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Negligent Hiring |
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What is Negligent
Hiring? |
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Negligent hiring is a
common term referring to
the trend of courts
holding employers
responsible and liable
for the acts of their
employees. This
comes from the concept
that the background of
the employee contains
facts that should have a
bearing on whether or
not they were hired for
the position in which
they were placed.
Who is affected by
the consequences of
negligent hiring? |
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The potential of an
organizations employees
to defraud, harm or even
injure a customer,
co-worker or member of
the public makes no
employer immune to
negligent hiring
liability. For
example: |
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A driver with a
history of
recklessness. |
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A salesperson
with a
background of
violent assault. |
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A bookkeeper
with a criminal
history of
thefts. |
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A supervisor
with a post
involvement in
sexual
harassment. |
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A professional
without the
qualifications
or experience
claimed on the
resume. |
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These are all routine
job openings filled
every day with routine
job candidates.
Without proper
background checks, all
of these examples could
be the catalyst
resulting in a negligent
hiring lawsuit. |
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How to protect your
company? |
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The obvious answer is to
simply not hire and
place employment
candidates with
unacceptable backgrounds
into positions of
liability. Failure
to check even basic
references and records
are leading causes for
filing negligent hiring
lawsuits after the
employee caused loss or
injury. |
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To protect your company
from hiring and placing
an individual in a
position whose past
performance records
could be instrumental in
causing a negligent
hiring lawsuit,
background information
should be obtained in a
lawful, consistent and
reliable manner.
The records obtained
should be deciphered,
organized and presented
in a manner enabling the
hiring personnel to
easily review and
evaluate the information
provided. |
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The background report
should be retained in
case a negligent hiring
suit is brought against
your company in the
future for actions of
the employee. This
report provides proof
that the background of
this individual was
lawfully and responsibly
researched for
unacceptable trends. |
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