Legal Question in Employment Law in California

My son applied and was accepted for employment at a local hospital as a licensed therapist in a specialty field. He had passed background checks with his school, for his clinicals, state and national boards, and presumably with this employer. He went through his orientation, started work full time, then was called in to be told he had a misdemeanor on his background check that he failed to report and was fired on the spot. When prompted on his employment application he checked "no" to any misdemeanors or felonies, which he believed to be true and found that it was true.

Upon investigating, he found he had only a traffic offense that was reduced to careless driving. He had missed his original court date for that but had cleared that by appearing and paying the fine at a later time several years ago. The county this happened in says that this was not a misdemeanor and there is no misdemeanor on his record. The state this happened in and where his home is now are different.

Can the hospital justify his firing? When asked, they said they checked it out through BING.com and found that it was "like" a misdemeanor, therefore they were correct in firing him. His supervisor at the hospital expressed true regret at having to let him go, as he was well liked and his job performance was strong and attitude good. He has handled this so far with great character and really has been respectful towards them, yet is very disappointed and at this point is ready to go to the State Fair Labor Board. He had even turned down an interview for a better paying job as he had committed to this one. I also was told that he should contact the board for his specific profession and tell them what happened and they may assist him in getting his job back. ANY advice would be appreciated greatly.

Thank you


Asked on 2/06/10, 11:43 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Justify? They don't have to. In general, unless you are civil service, in a union or have a written employment contract, you are an 'at will' employee that can be disciplined or fired any time for any reason, other than illegal discrimination under the Civil Rights, or Whistle-blower, or similar statutes. Your goal should be to keep your employer happy with you. Their good faith belief that he had lied, based upon the records they obtained [and maybe misunderstood], is grounds for firing 'for cause', let alone 'at will' firing. He should try to negotiate a rehire, unless he burned his bridges by unpleasant attitude or conduct at or after the firing. Yes, he should contact the state board to correct his record, if he finds the employer reported to them a firing for arrest record. They are not there to help him get his job back.

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Answered on 2/11/10, 5:01 pm


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