Colorado Capitol Report

In this Capitol Report:

• “Ban-the-Box" Bill Set to be Heard Tuesday Afternoon
• SAVE THE DATE  

“Ban-the-Box" Bill Set to be Heard Tuesday Afternoon

HB-1388, sponsored by Representative Beth McCann (D-Denver), was introduced March 16^th and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.  The bill is scheduled to be heard when the Committee convenes at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 12^th, in Room 112.

Here’s CACI’s fact sheet that summarizes the opposition of the CACI Labor and Employment Council to HB-1388:

OPPOSE HB 1388 – Bans Employers from Requesting Criminal History on Applications

Sponsor:  Rep. McCann; No Senate sponsor

Summary of HB 1388:  Prohibits employers from asking an applicant’s criminal history until applicant has been offered an interview or conditional offer of employment.  Requires employers to maintain employment applications for 9 months (conflicts with current Federal requirements under Title VII, ADA and ADEA).

Reasons for Opposing HB 1388:

Preventing initial screening of an applicant’s criminal history through a job application and waiting until an interview or job offer is made has consequences for employers and employees:

• Creates a workplace safety and liability risk for employers and employees;

• Creates false expectations for a job applicant;

• Imposes costs on an employer to conduct a background check through CBI and FBI versus allowing for self-reporting by the applicant;
• Consumes time and resources of an employer to interview each applicant.

• Creates a liability risk for employers if workers are harmed:
• Average settlement for employers sued for negligent hiring = $1 million.

• Percentage of times employers lose negligent hiring lawsuits = 75%.

Current Data Contradicts Claims that HB 1388 Will Reduce Recidivism Rates: **

The Bureau of Justice tracked 405,000 prisoners in 30 states (2005-2010).  Results of that study:

• 2/3 of 405k were arrested for a new crime w/in 3 years (68%)
• 3/4 were arrested w/in 5 years (77%)
  • 1/3 of those arrested w/in 5, occurred w/in first 6 months (37%)
  • More than ½ by end of first year (51%)
• 16% of prisoners released were responsible for 48% of 1.2 mill arrests over 5 years.

Certain crimes offenses are statistically more likely to see repeat offenders:

• Property offenders: 82% more likely to be arrested again
• Drug offenders (77%)
• Violent offenders (71%)

**Bureau of Justice Statistics, BJS.gov

Knowing an Applicant’s Criminal History is Critical for Workplace Safety…

• Omar Thornton, Connecticut (2010) – Man caught stealing beer at distributor went on shooting rampage and killed nine (9) people.  Connecticut passed Ban the Box bill in June 2010.

• Rocky Allen, Swedish Medical, Denver (2016) – Worker potentially infected 2,900 patients for swapping syringes among patients.  Worker was fired by 4 different hospitals.

• Sue Weaver, Florida (2001):  Workers employed by Burdines Department Store to clean Weaver’s home air ducts.  Worker returned to Weaver’s home and raped, murdered her, and set her home on fire.  Worker was registered sex offender twice convicted for sex assault.

• Viririana Hernandez, Fresno, CA (2015) – Hernandez stole taxpayer and coworker’s information to open fake credit cards.  She also added herself as an authorized user to 160 customer accounts and stole $1.2 million from those victims.  California passed Ban the Box law in 2010 and 2013.

• Home health workers, Michigan (2014) – Home health care program funded by state & federal dollars had 3,786 workers w/felony convictions ranging from violent convictions to sex crimes.

• Mary Foley: Foley owned temporary employment firm and hired a man as a night watchman.  He stole from the company, and company sued Foley for negligent hiring.  Insurance did not cover cost of lawsuit and Foley had to close her employment firm.

• Citizen & Commerce Bank (Philadelphia) – Bank manager, teller and insurance employee ran a six year identity theft ring.  Workers stole money from customer accounts and opened fraudulent credit cards using customers’ names.

• JP Morgan Chase – Bank employees stole customer’s identity and ran up $77M in Medicaid fraud charges under customer’s name.  Lawsuit was filed against JP Morgan and customer is seeking $10 million in damages.

• Nakeisha Hall, Alabama (Feb. 2016) – IRS advocate whose job was to help consumers whose identities had been stolen.  Hall used her position to gain access to filers’ sensitive information and filed fraudulent returns and claims.  She sent herself pre-loaded debit cards totaling $1.5 mill.

• Kenneth Goheen, Austin, TX (2013-2015) – IRS Tax Examining Technician stole and used 50 or more Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) for fraudulent refunds of over $120,000.

Employers have a clear incentive to avoid hiring employees who have a proven tendency to defraud or steal from their employers, engage in workplace violence, or who otherwise appear to be untrustworthy and unreliable.”  Roger Titus, U.S. District Court Judge, EEOC vs. Freeman

For more information about HB-1388, contact Loren Furman, CACI Senior Vice President, State and Federal Relations, at 303.866.9642.

For news media coverage of this issue, read:

“Colorado bill would prevent screening job-seekers solely on criminal history,” by joey Bunch, The Denver Post, March 16^th.

SAVE THE DATE  

CACI’s next Federal Affairs Council

is April 26^th

“Transportation & Infrastructure – What Is The Path Ahead?”