Legal Question in Employment Law in California
My mom's work just enforced a new policy to do a ten-year background check this January. They did a background check on her and found out that she had a DUI five years ago and they fired her. This seems unlawful to me, and I'm just wondering if they were in legal rights to do so? She's was an LVN nurse.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Unless she had a union contract or other written agreement that she would only be fired for just cause, she was an "at will" employee. This means she could have been fired for wearing pink socks, or no reason at all as long as it was not for some illegal discriminatory reason, such as race or gender. So if they are perfectly free to fire her for a 5yo DUI.
I agree with Mr. McCormick.
If the true reason for the termination was the DUI, then your Mom's employer has done nothing improper. If the termination for the DUI was a pretext for unlawful discrimination based on age, race, gender, or some other prohibited classification, then your Mom would have a claim.
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