and ruled on negligent hiring/retention chargeshave indicated that employers are responsible to thoroughly investigate thebackgrounds of the applicants. Employers generally are viewed by courts as being accountable forthier ( Negligent ) actions, if: * A Link can be established between employee actions and third-party injury. * Information concerning the employees unfitness, instability, orunsuitability for a job was available before hiring or became availableafter hiring. * It can be established that such information is or was used to make adecision thereby taking the public out of harms way.If these criteria are met, the level of care demanded from an employer ishigher ( 6 )Extensive state and Federal legislation and executive orders existconcerning equal employment opportunity EEO that directly affects businessemployment practices. Most statutory legislation and federal executiveorders are designed to prohibit employment discrimination based on race,color, national origin, gender, age, and handicap. Title VII the hallmarkstatute in this field of law, addresses illegal discrimination in threeareas: Intentional discrimination, Disparate impact, and Disparatetreatment. The most controversial of these is Disparate impact.The landmark US Supreme court case Griggs vs. Duke Power ( 401 U.S. 424 {1971 } ) interpreted disparate impact as any nuetral employment practicethat adversly affects a protected class of people ( e.g. Blacks, women andso on). The court stipulated that discrimination could be practiced legallyonly: 1) If a manifest relationship could be established betweenemployment requirement and employee job performance; 2) In the event ofsafety considerations ( See New York City Transit Authority vs. Beazer 19FEP Cases { 1979}); or 3) for a so called business necessity. ( 7 )Examples of adverse impact theories include: * Requiring a job applicant to meet minimum height and weightspecifications ( CFR 1607 { 1976}) * Using arrest a...
