School Sued After Employee Arrested
Another school has been slapped with a lawsuit after an employee was arrested for molesting students. This story is depressing, but also intriguing (at least to lawyers) because of the legal basis for the suit.
According to newspaper reports:
The lawsuit says school officials never should have hired [the employee], who was serving five years of probation for bank fraud and whose criminal history includes arrests for making harassing telephone calls, DWI, violations of protective orders and theft. . . . [He] had been reprimanded more than once for acting inappropriately with school staff, and on one occasion he used vulgarities toward a teacher, the suit says. 'Several teachers complained to school officials that janitor Schwertz appeared at school impaired on occasions and complained that he locked the bathroom doors for no apparent reason,' it says.
That sort of history would not be grounds for a lawsuit in some jurisdictions. In Georgia, for example, the plaintiffs would have to show a history related to the conduct in the lawsuit. In other words, lies about education or prior employment are not enough when the claim is sexual assault. Munroe v. Universal Health Servs., Inc., 277 Ga. 861, 596 S.E.2d 604 (2004). Washington, on the other hand, recently issued an unpublished opinion disagreeing with Georgia's rule.
It's also interesting that the lawsuit cites numerous arrests, but only one conviction. The question of what to do when arrests show up in a criminal history is a tough one for employers. An arrest with no subsequent conviction may mean only that someone got mad at the employee, or it may mean that he or she truly is dangerous. At the very least, an employer should ask questions, investigate when necessary, and document what he or she finds out.
