The family of a 26-year-old Illinois woman struck and killed by a tour bus as she crossed a street has filed a lawsuit in Cook County court claiming that the owners of the bus were negligent in hiring and retaining a bus driver who was a convicted felon with 20 citations for traffic violations and whose Commercial Drivers License was temporarily suspended in 2008, according to a report on the Chicago Sun-Times media wire.
The suit also claims that if the bus company had performed “proper” background checks on the driver of the bus in the fatal accident, they would have discovered that he was also wanted for molesting children and had been charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under 13 involving two young girls attending a sleepover at his home in 2008, the Sun-Times reports.
The Attorney for the family of the victim said in a statement that the bus company’s “utter failure to ensure that its professional drivers were appropriately qualified resulted in a truly unnecessary loss of life,” and that the lawsuit would expose their flawed hiring and retention practices. The full Sun-Times report is at: http://www.suntimes.com/5434850-417/family-of-woman-killed-by-bus-in-steeterville-sues-coach-company.html.
Employers can avoid “bad hires” by practicing due diligence with background checks. If employers hire an employee who they knew – or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known – was dangerous, unfit, or unqualified for the position, that employer can be sued for negligent hiring if injuries or death occur. For more information on background checks, visit Employment Screening Resources (ESR) at http://www.ESRcheck.com.
About Employment Screening Resources (ESR): Founded in 1997 in the San Francisco Bay area with a mission to help employers and employees maintain safe workplaces, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) and wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by founder and President Lester Rosen. For more information about ESR, visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or email ESR News Editor Thomas Ahearn at tahearn@ESRcheck.com.