Legal Question in Business Law in Virginia
Refused Employment for a Reckless driving charge after being found Not Guilty
I am trying to become on Over The Road truck driver.
While seeking employment, a company I applied with
refused me employment (specifically said they would
hire me otherwise) because of a reckless driving charge
in 2004. The problem? I was found NOT GUILTY. They
said this does not matter, just that I was charged.
Is this legal? I thought NOT GUILTY means you DID NOT
commit the crime you were accused of. Also I know that
if I were to get the transcripts from this case I could
prove that the Police Officer perjured himself on the
stand, could I use this to somehow get this exponged?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Refused Employment for a Reckless driving charge after being found Not Guilty
While your analysis is correct, the problem is
that in Virginia employees have very few rights.
Therefore, an employer can choose not to hire
you for no reason at all or any good or bad
reason. They do not have to be logical. Whereas
in a state like California an employer might
have to be fair and reasonable in these ways,
in Virginia an employer has a right to be stupid.
Where they are supposedly trying to keep the
public safe on the highways, they can get away
with a lot.
Therefore, I think that you should simply keep
looking for a well-run company. In the long
run, badly-managed and stupid companies do end
up shrinking and well-run, reasonable companies
prosper.
However, I do have a question as to how they
would know that you were charged without being
found guilty. Is that on your driving record?
If it is showing up on your driving record, that
you were charged but not guilty, you should see
a lawyer and try to correct that.
If you are answering this on an employment
application, you should read the application more
carefully to make sure they are really asking
you for charges only rather than convictions.
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