Legal Briefing: Job Offer Gets Lifted Following Nondisclosure

When he completed an employment application for a job at Schenker Logistics Inc., Dustin McCorkle answered “yes” about whether he had ever been convicted of a crime in the past 10 years.

Although the application stated that false, incomplete or missing information would be grounds for disqualification, McCorkle disclosed only that he had been convicted of “stalking, harassment while trying to gain custody of my daughter,” and failed to disclose that he had also been convicted of other misdemeanors. 

Schenker offered McCorkle a job, but rescinded the job offer when it learned of the convictions. McCorkle sued under Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act, which prohibits employers from making a hiring decision based on criminal convictions not related to an applicant’s suitability for the job.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed the claims, because the “undisputed evidence of record shows that [Schenker] did not revoke [McCorkle’s] job offer because of his misdemeanor convictions” but, rather, because “he intentionally misrepresented his criminal history on his employment application.” McCorkle v. Schenker Logistics Inc., M.D. Pa. 1:13-cv-03077(Oct. 8, 2014). 

IMPACT: Many states restrict employers from making hiring decisions based on criminal convictions unrelated to the suitability for the job, and careful review of those regulations is a must.