My good friend and fellow South Texas alum Brant Stogner has been busy lately, seeking justice for a 13-year old Houston school boy who was savagely beaten by his teacher. The teacher, Sheri Lynn Davis was caught in action on cell phone camera. Davis can be seen tackling and repeatedly pummelling the defenseless student in the face, as terrified students watch on. (See Video from Good Morning America.)
In a Good Morning America interview, Davis tried to position herself as a champion of sorts, who is helping to highlight the safety issues faced by children in Houston schools.
The Charter School that hired Davis – Jamie’s House Charter School – terminated her on Monday May 10, although the beating took place on April 29. The young student’s family filed a law suit on May 13 against the former teacher and the school.
The story has made national headlines and likely means the end of a teaching career for Davis and could spell financial problems for the school.
There is no guarantee that a thorough background check would have prevented this incident, but in many cases involving violence in the workplace there is a history or track record of similar behavior.
During the hiring process, employers should obtain written consent from prospective employees to conduct detailed background checks. If the position will involve dealing with children or the elderly even more intensive searches should be done.
Some employers hiring for finance, accounting and senior level jobs often run the credit history of prospective employees. There is some controversy regarding the value and appropriateness of credit history searches in hiring.
Questionning the employee about their background during the interview is also an important aspect of the screening process. There has to be a balance between asking probing questions and not crossing the line into asking inappropriate questions.
For example, recently Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland asked a potential draft choice – Dez Bryant – whether his mother was a prostitute. Some argue that Ireland was perfoming necessary due diligence before investing millions of dollars in an employee. Others argue that Ireland’s question crossed the line and was distateful and inappropriate. (Here is Michael Silver’s take on the issue.)
It is important to speak with an attorney who can assist your company with its policies and procedures related to hiring. Some “off-the-shelf” products may work fine, but each business is unique and so are the challenges and consideration they face.
One policy that a company can adopt is to perform annual background checks of existing employees. In the case involving Sheri Lynn Davis – the charter school teacher who beat the the 13-year old student – an annual background check may have shown that Davis was facing criminal charges for slashing the tires of another woman in January 2009.
In this situation the charter school could possible be found negligent for hiring and retaining Davis, and could also have its practices called into question for not taking action in response to the 2009 tire-slashing incident.
The take away is that you can’t afford not to have thorough and effective screening and hiring processes and procedures in place. Those procedures should be developed with your business’ attorney who knows and understands your business.
Have a question? Check us out at www.banks-attorneys.com.
