One more way applicants can slip through the cracks

An article in the Colorado Springs Gazette outlines how deferred sentences can let someone convicted of a crime pass your background check. Here’s what happened in Colorado.

Robert Lawrence Psaty worked as a mental health clinician at the Colorado Mental Health Institute. A waiter noticed him slip a pill into his companion’s drink while having dinner. The waiter, smart fellow, took the drink from the table and called police.

Psaty was arrested. It turns out that he’s been in trouble before, in 1994 and again in 2002. In both cases he received a “deferred sentence.” Here’s what that means according to the Colorado Judicial Branch:

An arrangement in which a defendant who pleads guilty is placed on probation for up to two years, usually with conditions. If the defendant successfully completes probation, the guilty plea is withdrawn and the case is dismissed. If the defendant fails probation, he or she may be sentenced based upon the guilty plea.

Here’s what that means for Psaty, for the Colorado Department of Human Services who ran the background check on him, and for you. It’s like that conviction never even happened.

The court decided, in 1994 and in 2002 that Mr. Psaty had met the conditions established by the court at sentencing. The cases were then dismissed. When the Department of Human Services ran their background check, there were no convictions on the record.

This just emphasizes the point that while a background check should be part of your hiring process, it shouldn’t be the only part. Your application should ask about criminal activity. Check with your attorney to see how you should ask about deferred sentences. You should check references. You should run a pre-employment credit check.

No system is perfect, but a good process, diligently followed will help you catch most criminal situations. That same process and diligence will also help keep you safe from wrongful hiring lawsuits.