Megan’s Law provides that all states are now

required to have all convicted sex offenders reg-

ister so that residents are aware of their presence

in a neighborhood. The law is named for Megan

Kanka, a 7-year-old who was raped and murdered

by a twice-convicted pedophile who moved to her

New Jersey neighborhood. He lured her to his

house with the promise of showing her a puppy.

Megan’s Law raises issues around the use of crimi-

nal registries in hiring and employee management.

Several issues are involved for an employer

in dealing with Megan’s Law and employees.

For example, in Michigan, the Attorney General

released the names of 200 registered sex offenders

who had been using MySpace (some in violation

of the terms of their parole). Some employers

found that the list included the names of some of

their employees and had to confront the very real

problem of what to do about it.

 

The presence of a convicted sex offender pres-

ents conflicting obligations and concerns. Employers

want (and need) to protect other employees and

customers from harm based on negligent hiring

and negligent retention issues. But is this person a

threat? What if the person has an exemplary work

record? In some states, it is illegal for employers

to use any information found on the Megan’s Law

website for purposes of employment.

Perhaps the easiest way to proceed would be

to keep from hiring convicts in the first place, but

federal law limits an employer’s ability to do that.

The EEOC says that the use of conviction records

in employment decisions has an adverse impact

on African American and Hispanic males. Using a

blanket prohibition against convicts in hiring may

allow a plaintiff to demonstrate a disproportion-

ate impact on protected categories of applicants.

Is an employer

required

to check the registry?

It depends on the job. Generally the answer is

“no,” but for certain jobs there is an obligation to

check. Those jobs include positions in health care

facilities and hospitals (e.g., nurse or aide), day

cares and schools (e.g., teacher or aide), security

(e.g., guard), social and mental health facilities

(e.g., social or mental health worker), taxi and bus

services (e.g., drivers), and recreational facilities

(e.g., fitness trainer). Virtually any position with

access to potential victims is a job with the poten-

tial for problems.

Two of the names on the Michigan list pre-

sented some difficult management decisions. In

one office equipment company, a 34-year-old

office equipment repair technician was paroled

after serving a 7-year sentence for attacking women

on jogging paths. His previous employer offered to

rehire him as a field technician who would travel

to other offices to repair business machines, as he

had been an excellent employee with outstanding

repair skills.

In the other case, a new employee was found

to be on the list. He was an African American who

had served 10 years for child pornography posses-

sion. He is driving a school bus for a church and

has thus far been a model employee, although he

did not list his conviction on the application form

even though the question was asked.

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QUESTIONS

1. Discuss what a manager should do in each of

the two Michigan cases.

2.

What circumstances might lead you to make

different decisions in different cases under

Megan’s Law?