Virginia Cab Company Gets a $10 Million Employment Screening Lesson
Imagine being an employer looking at prospective employees. Would you hire a person with the following criminal record?
- Failure to obey a traffic signal, 2007
- Speeding, 2009
- Failure to pay attention, 2012
- Failure to obey a highway sign, 2012
- Tampering with a vehicle, 2011
- Speeding, 2007
- Failure to wear seat belt, 2007
- Failure to pay full time attention, 2010
- Speeding, 2011
- Failure to obey a traffic signal, 2013
- Violation of good behavior on a misdemeanor offense
- Illegal sale of unapproved equipment
- Misdemeanor assault, 2011
In Alexandria, Virginia, Officer Peter Laboy stopped taxi cab driver Kashif Bashir for showing aberrant behavior, and the driver took out a gun and shot the officer in the head. Unfortunately, a police officer had to deal with the consequences of the cab company’s decision to hire a driver with a worse than normal criminal rap sheet. The cab company’s decision not to conduct an employee background check has resulted in them being sued for negligent hiring by Officer Laboy for $10 million dollars.
At first glance, these all appear to be minor offenses when taken individually. A background check may or may not have prevented this incident. These offenses probably cause concern from someone employing a driver, but maybe they wouldn’t mean much to an office worker.
All in all, it’s the body of work that counts. A minor offense or two won’t deter someone from getting a job, but a laundry list of offenses committed over a long period of time should.
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