Companies ponder background checks

A kidnapping and murder charge more than 1,000 miles away has sparked serious conversation in Springfield’s business circles.
Registered sex offender John Evander Couey was charged March 21 with the kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Florida. Florida police have said Couey was working at the elementary school Lunsford attended, doing masonry work.
Media coverage has implied the Lunsford family might go after Couey’s general contractor employer, said architect Ben Webb of Webb & Associates Architects.
An informal SBJ poll of local general contractors showed three out of four do not perform full criminal background checks as part of pre-employment screening. Rather, they check the most relevant information: previous employment and driving records. At some companies, drug testing is also performed.
“We do some license background checks as far as what kind of trouble a person may or may not have been into – speeding, drunk driving, that sort of thing,” said Rich Kramer, principal of Rich Kramer Construction.
Kramer, who spends $250 to $300 per employee for background checks and drug screenings, fears what might happen if the courts determined an employer was responsible for an employee’s activities off the clock.
Tougher background checks might mean construction projects would become backlogged while waiting for workers.
As it is, Kramer said, checking a potential new hire’s background takes about a week.
“If you want to put somebody to work tomorrow, it’s flat not going to happen,” he said.
Springfield Contractors Association checks workers’ references and verifies work experience before sending them to SCA members for interviews, said Sheryl Letterman, SCA’s executive director. Letterman said that SCA doesn’t conduct drug testing or criminal background searches.
“A member that would want to have more information would pretty much have to search it out on their own,” she said.
MoDoCo Inc. owner Morris Dock said his company spends $100 to $200 on driving records checks and drug tests per applicant. He said that all employers are held responsible, to a degree.
“Get as much information as you can, and if you’re making an effort, that’s the best we can do,” he said. “We can’t be held responsible for someone’s actions if they’re doing it off duty in their own personal life.”

Negligent hiring
While construction contractors are the focus in this case, any employer can be held liable for negligent hiring, according to Springfield attorney Mary Lou Martin.
In order to sue on the basis of negligent hiring in Missouri, it must be proved that the employer knew or should have known of the employee’s dangerous proclivities and that the employer’s negligence was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury, Martin said, based on Missouri’s 85-year-old case law.
“There’s always a standard of proof, and the standard of whether negligence exists depends on whether a reasonably prudent person would have anticipated danger and provided against it,” Martin said.
Martin, who has worked in employment law for 15 years, recommends taking the time to get to know prospective employees.
And employers definitely need to conduct background checks, she said.

Background checks
“It affects all businesses,” said Jennifer Sanders, owner of Paragon Investigations. “It doesn’t matter if you’re going to make a sandwich or build a house.”
Sanders said precautions should be taken with hiring in all fields.
Matt Morrow, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, said that the organization held a seminar last year in conjunction with Paragon Investigations to educate members on protecting themselves when hiring.
For contractors, Morrow said, general liability insurance provides some protection, but thorough background checks are a vital part of the hiring process.
With a price tag of about $40 for Paragon’s services, Morrow said the precaution is affordable.
“Especially if you’re at the point where you’ve got two or three people that you would feel good about hiring,” he said. “Why not? It’s a small investment to put your mind at ease.”
About 60 percent of Sanders’ business at Paragon Investigations is made up of background checks for employers and landlords. A thorough background check – including criminal history; civil search for any judgments, liens or bankruptcies; and driving records for driving while intoxicated or with revoked or suspended licenses – can provide an employer with vital information that extends beyond checking references or previous employment, said Sanders, who has been in the business for 10 years.
Record of an ex parte, or order of protection, filed against an employee can be a warning sign of potential conflict or violence on the job, she added. Also of concern is the employee who has filed an ex parte against a spouse or partner, for example.
“As an employer and even an employee, to think that somebody’s personal life isn’t going to come into the workplace is not right,” Sanders said.