Your Rights in Workplace - Essay Example

Bobby was accused of folding a 10-year-old girl while working at Walmart stores. The girl’s mother has sued Walmart for negligent hiring claiming that Walmart store should have known Bobby's status as a sex offender through a background check.

            In the above case, Wal-Mart is not liable for any offense since the US Constitution protects employees with criminal backgrounds from any form of discriminatory practices in employment matters. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits all forms of employment discrimination based on national origin, religion, color, or race (Repa 15). In the above case, Wal-Mart had no hiring policy requiring the criminal background of the potential employees. In this case, Bobby has only previously been convicted of a misdemeanor and not rape. However, Walmart can implement a policy to request the criminal background of employees, but it must put into consideration the nature of the job, the gravity of past convicted offenses, and the time-lapse of the offense before making the hiring decision (Repa 67). Wal-Mart is not liable for not requesting the criminal background of Bobby since no employment law requires the company to do so. Equal employment opportunity guidelines require all employees to avoid or minimize requesting the criminal background of employees since this may lead to discrimination in employment practices (Walsh 163).