MLB umpires dismayed over background investigations

Baseball umpires are angry about background checks being conducted by Major League Baseball that the umpires say in some cases are questionable and inappropriate.

UMPS' NEIGHBORS QUIZZED: Topic considered inappropriate
Three umpires have reported instances in which they say their neighbors have been asked by investigators about any knowledge of drug use, spousal abuse and membership in the Ku Klux Klan, according to Lamell McMorris, spokesman for the World Umpires Association, the umpires' union.

"They have asked a series of very questionable, strange and poorly executed questions," McMorris said. "Some of them are downright horrible and have created an environment in which neighbors are led to think (the umpires') employers suspect them of spousal abuse, drug use and hate crimes. That's unfortunate."

MLB umpires Greg Gibson and Sam Holbrook, who reside in Kentucky, and Ron Kulpa, a Missouri resident, told McMorris of the interviews.

Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB executive vice president, baseball operations, who oversees the umpires, said in a written statement, "The claims of inappropriate questioning by individuals conducting background checks was brought to our attention and looked into thoroughly. After investigation, it was determined that these claims were inaccurate. Questioning was conducted with a written script consistent with common practice and there was no inappropriate conduct on behalf of the investigators."

"That's unfortunate," McMorris of Solomon's statement. "That is what you'd expect from an organization caught in wrongdoing. We've done our own investigation, including lengthy discussions with the neighbors and they confirm what we've said is true."

MLB proposed instituting background checks on umpires after last year's scandal involving National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy betting on games. The umpires' union has not yet agreed to the checks.

Union president John Hirschbeck said the union's concerns are not with the idea of background checks, "just the process," he said. "This substantiates our fears."

"I'm just surprised at that kind of tactic," said Hirschbeck, "that we'd stoop to this."

Pat Courtney, MLB spokesman, said the questions were prepared and the investigations carried out by MLB staff members.

Hirschbeck, a major league umpire since 1984 and WUA president for eight years, said Tom Christopher of the MLB security department, "was in my neighborhood. I saw him and talked to him."
See also:
http://backgroundinvestigations.blogspot.com/2007/08/mlb-wants-background-investigations-on.html

Tyra Hearns of PebiServices.com provides valuable insight to hiring and retention of employees

When it comes to hiring new employees, the more you know the less you risk.
You’ve certainly heard the old saying: “Our people are our greatest asset.” We all know what the phrase intends to convey, but, if you think about it, the analogy is clumsy at best.
In the real world, assets are things that can be bought, sold or traded, like buildings, equipment, patents, systems and secret ingredients. With the exception of sports teams, employers do not “own” their employees. Nor can they buy them from someone else or sell or trade them to another employer.
“Our people are our best investment,” is closer to the truth because the only way balance sheet assets create and deliver value is through the organization’s human capital. And the case can be made for: “Our people are our best investors,” too because of the time they invest in the company and its future. Unfortunately, “Your people are your greatest liabilities,” is true as well.
Consider the case of a retail employer who was held liable for the negligent hiring and retention of an aggressive employee with a criminal record who sexually assaulted a female coworker. The court ruled that the store be held negligent because it should have learned about the employee’s past behavior as part of its pre-employment background investigation. The court found: “The failure to conduct the pre-employment investigation directly contributed to the violence perpetrated on (the plaintiff). Consequently, the store showed a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of others.”
While the possibility of an incident like this happening in your world may seem remote, the frequency of actual occurrences has made negligent hiring lawsuits one of the fastest growing areas of tort litigation. Employers are being hit with multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements–in addition to the sizeable attorneys’ fees. Under labor law it seems you are guilty until proven innocent.

Educated Employees
Another growing area of litigation is negligent retention. Employees and customers have successfully brought suit against employers who knew an employee had a problem or posed some kind of risk and didn’t take corrective action, which includes measures such as counseling, medical advice, therapy or termination.
The risk in either of these cases is tremendous because it takes being wrong only once to bankrupt a business.
There’s another downside to the failure to properly screen job applicants. Studies have repeatedly shown that companies that do not have these checks in place become the “employer of choice” for substance abusers as well as those with questionable backgrounds and criminal records.
The U.S. Department of Mental Health and Human Services reports:
• Most of the nation’s approximately 16.4 million illicit drug users and approximately 15 million heavy alcohol users hold full-time jobs.
• By industry, most illicit drug users are among foodservice workers (17.4%) and construction workers (15.1%).
• By industry, most heavy alcohol users are among mining and construction (17.8%), installation, maintenance and repair workers (14.7%) and foodservice workers (12.1%).
In the study, “Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs,” by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, it was found that employees who abuse illicit drugs:
• Cost U.S. companies over $140 billion annually;
• Are absent 10 times more frequently than non-users;
• Cause as much as 50% of all on the job accidents and 40% of employee theft;
• Have a 30% higher turnover rate; and
• File more worker’s compensation claims.
Because of statistics like these, every employer–no matter the industry–needs to recognize what’s on the line when they skip or skimp on pre-employment checks and, in addition to pre-employment drug testing, institute either on-the-job random drug testing or make it company policy that you have the right to conduct drug testing “for cause” (should an incident or accident occur).
How thorough and in-depth the pre-employment screen is, however, depends in large measure on the nature of your business as the risks of failing to screen are far greater in certain industries and jobs than in others.
As a general rule of thumb, the greater the employee’s interface with coworkers, customers and the general public or the greater the employee’s access to cash, merchandise and valuables, the greater the employer’s obligation to conduct appropriate back-ground checks.

Taking the Right Steps
A sufficient screening for an office worker who does not have access to valuables and interfaces only with the store manager would consist of a thorough business and personal reference and education check plus pre-employment and intermittent, random or “for cause” on the job drug testing.
The more you know the less you risk and you need to know more when you hire for positions of trust, including the likes of cashier, accountant and security guard. In these cases, background and credit checks are recommended as well. Basic background checks gather information from public records and can provide address and phone number histories, aliases and maiden names, worker’s comp claims and driving records.
For high risk positions, where an employee travels unsupervised to a customer’s home or place of business, it’s prudent run the gamut– reference, education, drug, background, credit and criminal record checks.
Whether you do it yourself or hire an outside vendor to run some or all of these checks, it only makes sense to do the cheapest ones first. such as reference checks and Social Security Number verification.
An employer with a reasonable and consistently followed pre-employment background checking process can greatly reduce its exposure to negligent hiring and negligent retention claims.
Whether you feel the need for extensive checks or not, every employer needs to have these basic protective measures in place:
1. Get separate pre-employment waivers from all applicants to conduct each of these checks: reference, drug, background, credit and criminal record, whether you plan to run them or not. These waivers put applicants on notice that you take hiring seriously and have the right to verify and investigate their histories. The benefit here is that many unfit applicants will “mysteriously disappear” after signing these releases.
2. Before conducting an interview, preface the meeting with a statement to this effect: “We are not willing to put ourselves at risk for negligent hiring lawsuits and will check your references and history thoroughly. If you’ve had any kind of a problem with drugs, the law, your credit history or on another job, if you tell me about it now, we can take it under consideration.
But if you don’t tell me and it comes up during our check, I cannot hire you. Is there anything that might come up that you’d like to clarify for me now?”
3. During the interview, ask the applicant to tell you about their last performance review or, if fresh out of school, report card. If you decide to make an offer of employment, make it conditional on the person providing you with a copy of that review or report card, plus the results of the drug test, reference and any background checks.
4. After the interview, be religiously diligent about former employer and personal reference checks. While most employers ask for references, far too many fail to check them.
As you’ve probably learned the hard way by now, what you see is not always what you get. The time it takes to check employment and personal references can save you a world of grief.
The best way to get the information you need is to fax a copy of the reference release form to the former employer before you call. This form, collected at the time the person completed your employment application, gives former employers the applicant’s written permission to give you reference information.
The first question to ask a former employer is, “Is this person eligible for rehire?” and, if not, “Why not?” Then ask about the traits and abilities that are important to success on the job like dependability, team player and compliance to structure.
A question that may uncover new information or gaps in employment is, “Can you tell me where this person worked before they went to work for you?”
Most importantly, give former employers a brief description of the position the applicant might fill and ask, “Is there any reason I should not hire this person for this job?”
5. Verify all educational claims as well.
6. Document and keep records of all discussions and checks conducted. The whole point is to be able to prove in court that you were not negligent and are, therefore, not guilty.
7. Be consistent. Even the most thorough procedure will not protect an employer who fails to use it. If pressured to fill a position as quickly as possible, do not cut the process short.
With these measures in place, should a negligent hiring lawsuit occur, your pre-employment background investigation is the best possible defense because it establishes that the company was prudent and acted responsibly during the hiring process.
Plus, with these measures in place, it’s highly probable that a negligent hiring lawsuit will never occur and you will be able to proudly say without reservation: “Our employees truly are our best investment.”

Troubled police officers discovered as police departments merge

During an interview to become an Austin Park Police officer, Ralph Garcia talked about being fired from the Bastrop Police Department for viewing adult Web sites on a city computer, including possible child pornography sites, according to records in his personnel file.

Park Police officials looked into the matter, which had resulted in an investigation by the Texas attorney general's office but no criminal charges against Garcia. Then they hired him.

A few years later, Park Police officials hired Roger Aguilar, who had quit the Austin Police Department while under investigation for using his Taser stun gun on a handcuffed suspect.

And they hired Armando Valverde, whose personnel file at the Lockhart Police Department had several disciplinary actions, including one for accidentally shooting through the floor of police headquarters.

An Austin American-Statesman review of the 27 Park Police officers who joined the department during the past five years shows that the city has hired officers with problematic backgrounds and that a check of those backgrounds was sometimes inadequate. Tyra Hearns the president of background investigation firm Pebi Services finds these lapses in background investigations frightfully appalling. "The public trust is the core to all law enforcement endeavors and this creates a very untrustable situation." says Hearns

New supervisors overseeing Park Police officers acknowledge the lapses, but they said they have worked in recent months to create a more rigorous hiring process that includes comprehensive background investigations.

How Park Police officers have performed since going to work for the city and their records from other agencies are expected to face scrutiny in coming months as officials begin consolidating city marshals and park and airport police officers with the Austin Police Department.

The American-Statesman's review, which included hundreds of pages of personnel files from previous employers and background information collected by Park Police officials before offering jobs, found that:

The city has hired officers who have been arrested in connection with assault, theft and failure to pay speeding tickets. Much of that information was discovered as part of background investigations, but the city hired them anyway, sometimes after background investigators discouraged it.

Until late 2005, officials had no standard for doing background investigations for prospective park officers. Bruce Mills, the director of the Public Safety and Emergency Management agency, took over the Park Police that year from the Parks and Recreation Department. He said the agency previously had assigned the task to other officers, most of whom had no training or experience doing such checks. An experienced background investigator who works for the agency now performs the reviews.

The Parks and Recreation Department until 2005 had a 10-year pattern of hiring officers as temporary employees and not providing them insurance or other benefits, in an effort to cut costs. Sgt. Michael Hart, president of the union that represents Park Police officers, said the policy probably affected the pool of prospective officers.

Ten officers have an arrest history or some type of disciplinary action against them.

City officials have said they will negotiate with the Austin Police Association this year to determine what criteria park officers must meet before becoming Austin police officers. Some Park Police officers could lose their jobs.

"We are going to do some hard looking, and there is a lot of explaining they are going to have to do," said association President George Vanderhule,who will be negotiating for the union. "We want to make sure we get people who will meet our standards."

Two years ago, city officials combined city marshals and airport and park officers to create the Public Safety and Emergency Management agency and appointed new leadership to supervise it.

Since then, Mills and other officials said they have developed a selection process similar to the Austin Police Department's. They ask applicants to respond in writing to questions, including whether they have ever been arrested or convicted, whether they have ever been cited for certain driving offenses and whether they have resigned or been terminated from a job.

Under those guidelines, officials acknowledge that some of the current officers would not be hired.

However, since the new standards were put in place, the city has hired officers with questionable work histories, including Valverde.

Officials defend their decisions in those cases, saying that they considered candidates' entire work history, including commendations and positive performance reviews.

"The downside to someone who has 10 to 12 years of experience is that they are going to have histories," Mills said. "It's a judgment call. The best you can do is take the collective information and base your decision on their track record."

Cost-saving might have been factor

In Texas, officers can jump from one agency to the next, carrying baggage that can include anything from excessive tardiness to negligent car crashes, without generally drawing interest from the state agency that licenses them.

Only if officers are arrested or indicted are they required to notify the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

The agency and state law, in an effort to stop officers accused of misconduct from easily getting other jobs, require all departments supervising peace officers to submit documentation when officers leave explaining the reason for their departure, including whether they quit while under investigation.

But commission officials keep no record of excessive disciplinary histories, said Executive Director Tim Braaten. That means it's up to local agencies to research prospective officers.

Other factors, in addition to inconsistent background checks, could have led to the hiring of officers with questionable histories, Mills said.

As a cost-saving measure, he said, Park Police sought to hire people from other police departments, which probably limited the applicant pool. Other city law enforcement agencies, including Austin police and airport police, tended to recruit people with experience in civilian jobs and then pay for them to attend an academy.

Warren Struss, who started work as Parks and Recreation Department director in 2004 and retired in 2007, could not be reached for comment. Darryl Lewis, who was Park Police chief from 2002 to 2006, did not return calls seeking comment.

Assistant City Manager Mike McDonald, who supervised the Parks and Recreation Department from February 2002 to July 2006, said high-ranking city officials would not have been involved in how background searches were conducted. Those decisions were left to the department director and human resources officials.

Mills said he thought it was likely that when he took over the agency, some officers had extensive discipline histories at previous departments.

He said he and other officials began looking through the documents after receiving the Statesman's requests last year.

What they found in some instances "has caused concern," Mills said, and perhaps pointed up a need for additional supervision of those officers.

No more pornography found

Among the 27 officers hired in the past five years, Garcia was among those whose history troubled officials the most.

This month, after the Statesman requested his background file, Mills and other officials questioned Garcia about the investigation by the attorney general's office and his subsequent firing. Mills said they also checked his computer use but found nothing suspicious.

According to a report from the attorney general's office, Bastrop Police Chief David Board called the office in October 2002 seeking help looking into whether Garcia had accessed child pornography on the city computer.

Investigators used a computer program to view images on the computer and found more than 1,300 possible pornographic images, 277 of which could have been child pornography, according to the report. At the time, they could not tell whether the images had been downloaded onto the computer.

Several days later, investigators wrote in a report that they had found no "actionable child pornography images" on the hard drive.

They referred the case to the Bastrop County district attorney's office and closed their investigation.

Garcia declined to be interviewed recently. He has had no disciplinary actions against him since becoming a Park Police officer in April 2004.

At the time, he asked Bastrop city officials in writing to give him his job back.

"I'm sorry all this happened," he said. "I am glad that I was caught early before it got out of hand. I can tell you it won't happen again."

Two years later, in Aguilar's case, he told Park Police officials that he had correctly used his Taser on a suspect who was "high on drugs." He said he handcuffed the man, but the man continued to resist after he got him to his patrol car. Aguilar said he used his Taser again, in violation of department policy.

He said he decided to resign instead of appealing a possible firing.

Michael Hart, the Park Police union president who performed the background investigation, wrote that Aguilar "falls into the disqualifiers portion of the Park Police eligibility requirements" but recommended that he get a waiver from former Chief Darryl Lewis to proceed to an oral exam.

Aguilar, who declined to comment, was the subject of an internal affairs investigation after becoming a Park Police officer for a use of his Taser. However, officials said he was justified in the July incident because the suspect was resisting arrest.

According to documents from the Luling Police Department, Valverde was fired in 1998 after he had a witness sign a blank statement that the officer later filled out. Valverde also signed the document as a witness to the statement.

An interim city manager rescinded the firing, saying the punishment was "much too severe" and Valverde's error was a "major administrative mistake" but not a crime.

Valverde quit the next year to join the Lockhart Police Department.

His personnel file from Lockhart included disciplinary actions such as a 2006 reprimand for twice leaving evidence unsecured — one from a case involving a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

In 2004, he was reprimanded for not taking corrective steps concerning an officer who repeatedly left her duty belt at home and had to return to get it.

An August 2001 disciplinary memo about the incident in which he shot a hole in the floor of police headquarters said Valverde was running late to work and was trying to see if his gun was loaded. His supervisor found that the discharge was avoidable and that he didn't adequately check the gun to see if it was loaded before firing it.

Valverde declined to comment. He has not been the subject of any discipline or internal investigations since joining the Park Police.

Negotiations to start soon

City and Austin police union officials said they plan to begin discussing at the bargaining table in coming months which Park Police officers should — and shouldn't — join the Austin Police Department.

Negotiations for a new employment contract are set to begin later this year. The current contract will expire in September.

McDonald, who will lead the city's negotiating team, said he will soon begin meeting with human resources officials to get input on possible hiring standards for Park Police officers.

Each will probably face an extensive background check, he said.

Vanderhule, president of the police union, said he would probably support rules prohibiting officers from joining the department if they have been fired from the Austin Police Department or if they resigned while under investigation.

He said he also would support a rule that would not allow an officer with a history of lying to be hired.

"We want to bring people who are going to be good Austin police officers," he said. "That's the bottom line."

Ohio strengthens background investigation rules for school employees

Even though Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation criminal records checks have long been required for teachers and certain other school employees, the Ohio Legislature enacted still more stringent rules through HB 109, which went into effect in November. HB 109 mandates both BCII and FBI criminal records checks for all school employees at the time they are under final consideration for a position. It also calls for periodic checks thereafter. Private contractors such as construction workers, groundskeepers and others who enter school property to perform services are also subject to HB 109 background checks.

Along with teachers, substitute teachers, tutors and educational assistants, administrators such as superintendents, treasurers and principals are required to have a criminal background investigation, as are counselors, school nurses and coaches, including those with pupil activity permits. The criminal background investigation must be repeated approximately every five years from the date of application for employment or when the relevant license is renewed. Criminal background investigations must be repeated every six years for school bus drivers; bus drivers also must have a semi-annual driving record check.

While the law does not require criminal background investigations for most volunteers, school boards may require them. Most boards in the area do, especially if the individual is a regular volunteer, will be supervising overnight trips or will be working regularly with students on a one-to-one (unsupervised) basis.

Centerburg, Johnstown-Monroe, North Fork and the Knox County Career Center do background investigations on adult volunteers, but not on students who volunteer to help younger pupils. Clear Fork does not require background investigations for student volunteers, but must, according to HB 109, conduct a criminal background investigation on paid student workers. Danville does not require the checks for volunteers at this time, while at East Knox and Highland it depends on what the volunteer’s duties will be. Coaching volunteers at Fredericktown are required to pass a criminal background investigation, but chaperones at this time are not.

Northridge board policy mandates criminal background investigations for all volunteers and chaperones. Superintendent John Shepard said all those checks are expensive, but the board willingly pays for them. "Obviously expense is always a factor when operating a large department like a school board but there is no price for the safety and well being of children," says Tyra Hearns the President of background investigation firm PebiServices.com

“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Shepard said. “It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.”

The price to pay, especially for larger school districts, can add up to a lot of money. Cheryl Colopy of the Knox County Educational Service Center, which does the fingerprinting for area schools, said the cost of one BCII check is $27; an FBI report costs $29, a total of $56.

And the number of “clients” has increased. From Dec. 1, 2005, to Jan. 15, 2006, the ESC processed 45 fingerprint requests; from Dec. 1, 2007 to Jan. 15, 2008, 111 individuals were fingerprinted at the ESC.

The board of education must pay the fee charged by BCII for criminal background checks, but may recoup that fee from the applicant. Licensed individuals pay the cost of the continuing periodic background check as part of their license renewal. For nonlicensed individuals such as custodians and food services workers, the board of education must pay the fee, and may charge the employee a fee that is equal to or less than the fee charged by BCII. Background checks for private contractors working for school districts may be paid for by the company employing the contractor.

BCII and FBI criminal records checks, by law, cannot be required for school board members. According to information from the Ohio School Boards Association, “boards of education may not limit the ability of an individual from becoming, or serving as, a public official, including requiring background checks. This would be an unconstitutional limitation on the individual’s rights to political expression. However, nothing would prohibit an individual board member from voluntarily submitting to a background check.”

At Northridge Local Schools, however, a school board member who wants to volunteer in the schools, outside of his or her capacity as a board member, does have to have a criminal records check like other volunteers in the district.

The OSBA further noted that criminal background checks are not subject to the Ohio Public Records Law. They are not considered to be public records and may not be disclosed by the public entity.

Police Officer involved in tragic shooting passes background investigation

An officer who left the Portland Police Bureau months after fatally shooting an unarmed motorist has been hired by the Beaverton department.

Jason Sery, 32, was sworn in at Monday night's City Council meeting.

Sery shot James Jahar Perez three times during a traffic stop in 2004 when he saw Perez pull a clenched fist from his right pocket, thinking he was pulling out a gun. A second officer, Sean Macomber, then fired his Taser gun at Perez.

Sery was cleared of any wrongdoing, but the shooting sparked a public outcry and led Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk to hold a public inquest.
Sery resigned a few months later, saying he had decided to become a teacher. He has taught 11th graders at Southwest Christian School, which is affiliated with Southwest Bible Church, a nondenominational church in Beaverton. He's also worked in the college ministry and other ministries, said Scott Gilchrist, senior pastor.

"He's passionate about his love for Christ and his love for people," Gilchrist said. "I can't speak highly enough about him."

Sery declined comment when approached by a reporter from The Oregonian newspaper at Monday's council meeting. He referred questions the police chief.

"We completed an extensive background investigation before Officer Sery was hired," Chief David Bishop said in a statement. "Based on the background investigation, we determined Officer Sery had been cleared three times of any wrongdoing. His background investigation was probably one of the best of the best. Tyra Hearns the President of Pebi Services a background investigation firm stated " unfortunately lethal force can be a componet of law enforcement, and it is tragic for all involved, but if the officer did not violate any federal, state, or departmental rules then he or she is able to continue with their existing agency or with another."

Elden Rosenthal, the lawyer who representing the family of Perez in a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Portland, said he was surprised Sery has returned to police work.

The lawsuit is on hold while the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals considers whether the Police Bureau's use of force policy is constitutional.

NASA receives ruling from federal judge, background investigations are out!!

A federal judge blocked the government Friday from conducting background investigation of low-risk employees at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory after an appeals court said the investigations threaten the constitutional rights of workers.
U.S. District Judge Otis Wright issued the injunction after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed his earlier ruling and issued a sharp rebuke to the judge.
The higher court said the 28 scientists and engineers who refused to submit to the background investigations faced "a stark choice — either violation of their constitutional rights or loss of their jobs."
The workers sued the federal government, claiming that NASA was invading their privacy by requiring the investigations, which included probes into medical records and questioning of friends about everything from their finances to their sex lives.
If they didn't agree to the background investigations, they were to be barred from the JPL campus and fired.
"We're ecstatic," workers' attorney Dan Stormer said. "This represents a vindication of constitutional protections that all of us are entitled to. It prevents the government from conducting needless searches into backgrounds."
NASA has argued that requiring employees to submit to the background investigations was not intrusive and that the directive followed a Bush administration policy applying to millions of civil servants and contractors.
Every government agency was ordered to step up security by issuing new identification badges. Employees were required to be fingerprinted, undergo background investigations and allow federal investigators access to personal information.
The plaintiffs have worked for many years at the labs that are run for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. "Employee longevity should never be an exclusion." says Tyra Hearns of PebiServices.com a pre-employment background investigation firm. "Agent Robert Walker of the FBI who was arrested for trading secrets with the Soviets was a 25 year member of the FBI. These background investigations can sometimes detect lifestyle and adaptive changes that are not known from the initial hiring however long ago that may be. My professional feeling is that this may one day be a regrettable ruling. "
JPL is known for its scientific explorations of space and study of Earth.
Veronica McGregor, a spokeswoman for Caltech and JPL, said Friday afternoon, "We are going to abide by any decisions made by the court."
The decision written by Judge Kim Wardlaw reversed a ruling by Wright and sent the case back to him with orders to "fashion a preliminary injunctive relief consistent with this opinion."
The higher court said Wright abused his discretion and committed several errors when he ruled that there was no merit to the claim that the scientists would suffer irreparable harm by signing the authorization forms.
It said that the lower court was wrong to conclude that the form which employees were asked to sign was "narrowly tailored."
"This form seeks highly personal information using an open-ended technique including asking for 'any adverse information which ... may have a bearing on this person's suitability for government employment,'" Wardlaw wrote. "There is nothing 'narrowly tailored' about such a broad inquisition."
The decision appeared to reverse a ruling by Wright late Thursday dismissing Caltech as a defendant in the lawsuit. The 9th Circuit said any injunction must also apply to Caltech.
It said the case "raises serious questions as to whether the university has in fact now become a willful and joint participant in NASA's background investigation program, even though it was not so initially."
At a hearing Friday, Wright entered the injunction and heard lengthy arguments on whether Caltech should be returned to its status as a defendant in the case. He declined to change his ruling on that issue but agreed to receive written submissions on the question, McGregor said.
None of the plaintiffs work on top-secret projects at JPL, which employs about 5,000 workers, but several are involved in high-profile missions, such as the Galileo probe to Jupiter and the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn.

Texas Firefighter has sexual criminal past; background investigation never revealed history

A local Texas firefighter was suspended after city officials discovered he was a registered sex offender.

Lockhart officials said they want to know why they were not told about the man's criminal history.

The Lockhart fire chief describes Mike Harris as quiet and a good firefighter. He has no disciplinary history in the four years he has worked at the department.

When city officials found out last year that Harris was a registered sex offender, they wondered how he could have slipped through the cracks. They must decide if he should stay or go.

With just 12 full-time firefighters on the payroll, the Lockhart Fire Department is like a family.

"The firefighters have a bond as a family," said Chief Jerry Doyle. "They spend a third of their life here."

But 12 is now 11.

Harris was placed on paid leave, because of his status as a registered sex offender.

"In this case, its just something that failed to show up when he was hired," Doyle said.

He added that city officials didn't learn Harris' criminal history until a city background investigation pulled it up last month.

"We had relied on the state agenices to do their work, as far as background investigations, when they license the applicant for their certification," Doyle said.

Those state agencies did do their work and knew Harris had a conviction in New York state for indecent exposure. Yet he was licensed anyway.

A representative for the Department of State Health Services said the term "registered sex offender" is applied to an array of actions, ranging from minor misdemeanors to serious felonies. Being a registered sex offender does not keep someone from getting licensed.

Doyle said he wants to know why he wasn't made aware of Harris' criminal history.

"That's part of the investigation that we're looking into is to find out why we were not made aware of it," Doyle said. Tyra Hearns President of background investigation firm Pebi Services says the problem goes further than that."This borders on grand malfecance and lack of due dilligence on the part of the background investigator. Fireman are conducting fire prevention classes in schools, giving fire house tours to school children, this should of never happened and the state agency entrusted with doing the background investigation should be ashamed."

The fire chief said he hopes to wrap up the investigation next week and get onto the business of fighting fires.

The Texas Commission on Fire Protection only recently decided that registered sex offenders could not be licensed, well after Harris received his license in 2001.