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Falling Off The Grid: A How-To Disappear. Part I/II

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Lina Maini

As an investigator for well over a decade, often employed in a skip-tracing capacity, I’ve learned how a  person can disappear (fall off the grid) or modify their public data (perception management). Without delving too much into SEO and other optimization methods hawked on the market, we focus on running our people tracer searches in reverse; i.e., locate the public information available on an individual and then follow the below masking methods.  To ensure that a person has successfully dropped off of the grid, we then try to locate them ourselves; determining how well our cloaking measures have worked.

There are basically three steps involved in falling off the grid.

1. Misinformation.  There is so much electronically available information on individuals now that turning this data to suit your needs may indeed appear to be a Sisyphean task.  (We are not referring to allegedly protected information such as your Social Security Number or credit rating; albeit the latter can be manipulated as well by simply adopting a new identity.  We’ll get to that in a later article.)   I’m referring to contact information given way too freely to cell phone and cable companies, utilities and even to marketing professionals just to receive nonvaluable products or services.

Solution: Locate and deviate your known information.  I.e.,  Select a letter of the alphabet different from your middle initial or invent one if you don’t have a second name. Open a P.O. Box, directing your street address to that of an identity securer’s physical address.   Select a different date of birth.  Where and when applicable, use these three new misinformants.  As marketers, cable, fraternal organizations… upgrade their selling lists, this new information will begin to be applied to your newer identity.  Your old information will begin to drop off of aging consumer lists.

2. Disinformation.  Similar to the above but with the direct intent to mislead an aggressive researcher.

Solution: Have your created data result redirected to a different city.  Make it as difficult and expensive as possible to have the would-be seeker find you.

3. Necessary contact.  So you’ve won the lottery, need to fall off the grid for a while (if only to regain a sense of balance in your life) but you still wish to remain in contact with your family (the real ones and not those having recently spilled out of the woodwork upon news of your winnings).

Solution: Pre-paid cell phones, Internet cafes or hot spots, pre-paid calling cards and pay for everything in cash.

In our next article, we will cover the art of perception management.  Expertly applied by politicians (except Senator Edwards), large corporations and dictatorially run oppressed nations.

Our Operatives: Street smart, tech savvy.

As always, stay safe.

Filed under: Identity, Identity Protection | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

History’s Most Infamous and Deadliest Female Spies

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Lina Maini

We wouldn’t be a female-run investigation company if we didn’t study, at times with grudging admiration, but never emulation, of our female counterparts in the world of undercover assignments.

This week we review our favorite (very subjectively selected) top five female spies of all times. Women who gave up everything: their normal lives, their children and family, and in some cases, their very lives in extremely dangerous situations. While at times we may not agree with their actions, these female espionage experts maintain a place in history few can rival.

1. Mata Hari: shot for spying on the French

Mata Hari was the stage name for Margeretha Zelle, a Dutch-born exotic dancer who began her career in Paris in 1905. Her sensual near-nude routines were an instant hit and she drew in audiences of thousands acoss Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, conducting many affairs with military and politial figures along the way. With the outbreak of WWI in 1914, Mata Hari’s many international connections brought her to the attention of the Frenchh authorities as she continued to travel around Europe. The exact nature of her spying activities are unclear : she claimed she was paid to spy for the French in Belgium, but was said to have turned double agent after agreeing to pass on nformtion to a German consul. It was British intelligence that finally unmasked “evidence” of her spying and on her return to Paris in early 1017, she was arrested and convicted of being a German spy. At her execution in October that year, Mata Hari,aged 41, refused to wear a blindfold and spent the last few seconds og her life glaing steadfastly at the firing squad, Many still contest her guilt, with theories suggesting she was a victim of a media frenzy and vague — or at worst, fabricated — evidence.

2. Virginia Hall: Escaped the Nazis on foot with an artificial leg

Wanted by the Gestapo as one of the most dangerous allied spies, American agent Virginia Hall worked Churchill’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Nazi-occupied France in World War II. She lost her lower leg in a hunting accident in 1933 and began using a wooden prosthetic leg christened Cuthbert. Snapped up for her fluency in French and German at the beginning of the war, she entered Vichy France under the cover of an American Reporter in 1941 and helped to organize the resistance there by aiding downed fliers, providing supplies for opposition publications and acting as a courier for other agents. In late 1942 when the Germans took direct control of the whole France, Virginia was ordered to leave — a feat she could only manage by hiking through the snow-clad Pyreness mountains to Spain, prosthetic leg in tow. She then returned to France to train and arm guerrilla groups under the auspices of C IA, constantly moving around to avoid detections by Nazis – who by this point had issued wanted posters and rewards for so called ”limping lady”. She disguised herself as an elderly peasent goat-herder while gathering information ahead of the crucial D-Day invasion in June 1944. After the war ended, Virginia was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross “for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against the enemy”

3. Ethel Rosenberg: Executed by the US for passing on nuclear secrets

In one of the most sensational espionage cases of recent US histoy, Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg and her husband Julius were Commun istd who were executed by electric chair in 1953 after being convicted of passing on information about the construction of the atom bomb to the Soviet Union. They were implicated in a US-led spy ring in 1950, following a painstaking investigation by the FBI. By the time of their trial on consporacy to commit espionage charges in 1951, their two young children had been taken into care. Throughout their detention, the couple refused to incrimate others in teir network, despite immense pressure. Others weren”t so stoical and the key testimony against Ethel came from her brother and sister-in-llaw, David and Ruth Greenglass, who is described how she had typed stolen atomic secrets from notes provided by David.

Summing up the case, Cheif prosecutor, Irving Saypol, declared : “This desription of the stom bomb, destined for delivert to the Soviet Union, was typed up by the dfendant Ethel Rosenberg that afternoon at her apartment at 10 Monroe Street. Just so had she, on countless other occasions, sat at the typewriter and struck the keys, blow by blow, against her own country in the interests of the Soviets. “

Ethel and Julius were found guilty and sentenced to death. Both remain ed on death row for 26 months, and it was intimated that they could have recieved a lesser sentence had they provided evidence against others. They were eventually executed in June 1953, amid widespread outrage and controversary. Many saw the couple as scapegoats of anti- Semitism and McCarthyism with Nobel prize- winner, Jean-Paul Sartre, calling the case ” a legal lynching which smears with blood a whole nation.” Stil more pointed to the saga’s innocent victims – the Rosenbergs’ two orphaned children.

4. Nancy Wake: Killed an SS sentry with her bare hands

One of the most decorated Allied servicewomen of World War II, Nancy Grace Augusta Wake was known to the Gestapo as “The White Mouse” for her ability to evade detection and capture. The New Zeland-born heroine joined the French Resistance in 1940 but was forced to go into hiding after her network was betrayed. She continued to work undercover and once cycled more than 500 miles through several German checkpoints to replace codes that her wireless operator had been forced to destroy during a raid. Later in the war, she joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and was parachuted back into the Auvergne region of France to provide guerrilla groups with arms. Her compatriots praised her strength and courage, two qualities she needed in abundance when she killed an SS sentry with her bare hands to stop him raising the alarm during a raid. After the war endedc, Nancy was awarded the George Medal, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Medaille de la Resistance and three Croix de Guerres from France. She also discovered that her husband had died at the hands of the Gestapo in 1943, having refused to reveal her whereabouts.

5. Anna Chapman : Extradited from the US for deep cover spying

Anna Chapman – known as Russia’s “flamed- haired beauty” and “sexy” – made international headlines last year as the most glamourous member of aring of deep cover agents arrested in the US. An economics graduate with a taste for the high life, Anna was born in the industrial southern Russia city of Volgograd ( then Stalin gard). She moved to Manhattan in  early 2010 aged 28 with the apparent aim of using her good looks and connections to infiltrate high-end social and political circles.. Fluent in English and with an IQ of 162, she was well-placed to send sensitive information back to the Kremlin. However, the FB I arrested Anna, along with nine other members of her deep cover cell operating out of the US, in June 2010. At one point the redhead agent was facing a possible life sentence for espionage, but managed to avoid this thanks to a high-profile spy swap between Russia and the US – the first of its kind since the end of the Cold War. Back in Russia, Anna maintained her celebrity status. As well as receiving one of Russia’s highest medals for espionage, she also appeared on the front cover of the Russian edition of Maxim magazine (sporting lace and a revolver) and now stars in her own documentary TV show.

We’re fairly certain that  none of our operatives, male of female, will make such an infamous list unless the activity is within the scope of our work, but it is interesting to note how ruthless the gentler sex can be when impassioned for a love of country and perhaps, misguided loyalty.

Our Operatives: Street smart, info savvy.

As always, stay safe.

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One Mother’s Story… A Personal and Historical Look At Mother’s Day.

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Lina Maini

(Each year on Mother’s Day, I like to post a piece from another Mom’s perspective.  Today we bring you the self-written story of Suzanne Reisig Olden, our favorite Bulletin contributor, and her real and powerful memories of her life with her children.)  To all, I wish…

From a Mother… by Suzanne Reisig Olden

This year I’ll be celebrating my eighteenth Mother’s Day.  My oldest, my son Eric, is 17 and getting ready to graduate high school.  My youngest, my daughter Meghan, 13, is trying to find her way and voice in the world she faces as a young woman.  (The math works.  I was a mother-to-be eighteen years ago on this special day.)  That first Mother’s Day, a few months pregnant with Eric, was an occasion full of wonder and tender nerves.  I was looking forward to being a mom, wondering what it would be like, if I was up to the challenge…and completely without a  clue as to how demanding a job it is to be Mom… the hardest job you’ll ever love.

A bit of history.

Mother’s Day has long been celebrated in the U.S., even prior to the date of official observance.  A special day reserved to honor mothers originated after the Civil War by women’s peace groups and mothers who had lost their sons to the War.  There were several limited observances in the 1870’s and the 1880’s but other than local commemorations, the day of reverence was still in its infancy.  In 1868, Ann Jarvis created a committee to start a “Mother’s Friendship Day”.  The day was to be set aside to observe and mend the rift created by the Civil War by unifying the mothers of fallen Confederate and Union soldiers.  She wanted to see it expanded into an annual memorial for mothers, but died before witnessing the fruition of her dream.  Ann Jarvis died in 1907.  The following year, her daughter, Anna Jarvis, held a memorial to her mother in Grafton, West Virginia on May 10, 1908, and then embarked upon a campaign to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday, a goal which was achieved when President Woodrow Wilson declared it so in 1914

Initially Mother’s Day was set aside as a day for American citizens to display the flag in honor of mothers whose sons had died in war.  Mother’s Day was meant to foster pacifism and social activism by mothers. Now this special day, the second Sunday in May, is set aside to  honor all mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, step-mothers, foster-mothers… any and all women who have mothered a child and had a significant impact on raising another human being.

Back to my story.

Seventeen Mother’s Days ago, I was the mom of an 8 month old infant.  Eric was bright and sunny and happy and he made my world shine.  8 months earlier, one early September morning as I first held my beautiful baby boy in my arms, I looked in those bright blue eyes and knew what my purpose on this earth was… to be his, and later his sister’s, mother.

I had no idea then what the next 17 years would entail, but I know now that it’s been worth every single moment.  Motherhood included the pain from two C-sections, long sleepless nights, nursing each child for many months, years of changing diapers, childhood acid reflux (Meghan), trips to the emergency room (again Meghan!), runny noses, fevers, stubbornness (Eric), temper tantrums and kissing “boo boos”; but also first smiles, first steps, first words (both of my kids first sentences were, “Mama, I do it myself!”), sitting with Poppy (my father) in his big chair on a Sunday morning, first days of school, first baseball games, first ballet recitals, first band concerts (both kids), hugs, kisses, silliness and love.  Watching my children grow has been an incredible experience that I am privileged to have bestowed upon me. In as much as one can in an article, I’d like to introduce my children, Eric and Meghan, and hopefully you can experience their specialness as I have every day for the past seventeen years.

                      Eric on his first day in kindergarten and now, a handsome high school senior.

 

 

 

Eric Michael is my son.  He is a tall, thin, dark haired, blue eyed, handsome high school senior; graduating in one month.   Without a mother’s exaggeration, he was a beautiful baby; happy, healthy and always hungry!  He started out with strawberry blond hair and a sunny disposition.  Rarely could anything upset him.  Sharp as a tack, too!   I noticed early on how smart he was (and is).  At about when he was 2, we moved back to Maryland to stay with my parents for a short stint.  Eric first tried to work the “if Mommy won’t give it to me, I’ll ask Nanny or Poppy” angle (even at the tender age of 2, he was smart?), but we finally settled into an understanding that Mom’s word ruled!  After his little sister, Meghan, appeared on the scene, he happily became “big brother” and took to that duty quite seriously.  He always looked out for his sister, and today I think, God help the man later who hurts his little sis!  Again, it may take quite a push to further Eric into anger but then, (some say he takes after his mama on this!), he is ferocious in his defense of those he loves.  Eric happily hopped on the bus the first day of Kindergarten, excited to ride the bus and go to school. (My little boy was already becoming a little man, right in front of my eyes!)  An intelligent child, with an affinity for animals and the environment, (not in a rabid tree hugging manner but as an empathetic human with respect for both), his actions told of the good young man he has become.  He earned his academic letter as a sophomore, and as of last year, he’s balanced running on the track team (earning another varsity letter there too), a job and a great grade point average.  So much so that he was awarded an academic scholarship to the college he will be attending this fall.  Throughout the years, he’s helped at church and in the community.  It’s a relief and a treat for me to know that he has a strong, solid sense of faith to match that intelligence with which he was born. I’m Eric’s mother and of course I have a subjective eye, but I have had my faith in him confirmed by so many others having told me that he is a great kid, smart, great sense of humor, loving, polite and helpful.  Oh the times I treasure having people say, “I just love your son!”  I know I do, deeply love you, Eric, my son.

Meghan, first day of kindergarten and today,  as a beautiful dancer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meghan Elizabeth is my baby girl.  She is four years younger than her brother, Eric.  Tall, thin, all legs, blonde, blue eyed and beautiful.  She was an easy baby…once we got her acid reflux under control!  But if she wasn’t happy, EVERYONE knew it!  Today if she hears a toddler throwing a fit she’ll throw a mischievous look at me and declare  “amateur!”  Meghan is a feisty girl with a strong sense of self, wonder and exploration.  To this day, something will catch her attention and off she goes to satisfy her curiosity.   My continuous mantra to her brother when we’re shopping, “Where is your sister??”  Megan, at 13, is now completing up 8th grade.  Next year she takes the similar high school route just completed by her brother.

In thinking of her earlier years, Meg decided at the age of 3 that she wanted to be a “dancy girl” .  Thusly, she began her now 10-year journey into the competitive, often grueling but always beautiful world of ballet.  Today she dances en pointe.  Her long legs, perfectly trained for dance, enhance her willowy figure, gracefully floating across the stage.  Ballet is demanding enough for most young people but Meg needs more!   She plays the oboe, piano (self-taught), sings and draws.  Well in touch with her creative side, my girl is crazy smart and consistently on the honor roll.  Had enough yet? Not Meg.  This year she joined 11 other girls from her middle school as a Junior Color Guard with the high school color guard.  She loved it so much that she is headed to marching band next year so she can keep spinning.  Oh, and did I mention that Meg has never missed a day of school?  She’s trying very hard to keep perfect attendance, and she’s stubborn enough to accomplish it.  It’s enticing to watch her develop her artistic talents with her logic-driven math and science studies.  She does it all with her incredibly individualized sense of style and flair!  It’s nice to again hear others compliment my second child (always both first in my heart) tell me how much they enjoy her loving and helpful nature, as well as her beauty, which never clouds her fun side.    She is well known for “glomping”  her friends (hugging them so hard they fall over!).

This Mother’s Day,  I look at my crazy , track/ballet/color guard mom life and wonder what I’ll do when it’s all over.  Knowing that I have children who love God, each other and their family lets me know that I did something right.  In several months,  I send my oldest out into the world, to college.  I know he will excel.   Four very short years from now, off goes Meghan as well.  I get misty just thinking about it now, but then isn’t that what Moms do as they realize that though their children are no longer babies, they always will be the loves of her life.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the women who have fostered the well-being of a child at some point, somewhere in this world.

(Our regular Beacon Bulletin will run on its new weekly schedule, on Tuesdays.  Our next Bulletin will therefore be out on May 15, 2012.)

As always, stay safe.

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A Powerful Identity Tool At Your Hands; Your Mouse.

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Lina Maini

I’ve quickly become a fan of the new topical information mag, Pacific Standard.  One of the most interesting articles, “Identity Protection”  in the last issue has secured my readership.

Identity Protection introduces the latest internet security identity protection tool, your pc mouse.  From PSMag:

In a newly published paper, a research team led by Clint Feher of Israel’s Ben-Gurion University introduces a novel way of verifying a computer is being operated by its rightful user. Its method, described in the journal Information Sciences, “continuously verifies users according to characteristics of their interaction with the mouse.”

How we manipulate our mice is, if not as unique as a fingerprint or DNA, surprisingly specific.

The idea of user verification through mouse monitoring is not new. As the researchers note, “a major threat to organizations is identity thefts that are committed by internal users who belong to the organization.”

To combat this, some organizations turn “physiological biometrics” to verify the identity of a computer user. But these techniques, such as fingerprint sensors or retina scanners, “are expensive and not always available,” the researchers write.

An alternative approach is the use of “behavioral biometrics.” Such a system compiles biometric data such as “characteristics of the interaction between the user and input devices such as the mouse and keyboard” and constructs a “unique user signature.”

As you might imagine, this is a tricky process, as the precise way we utilize our mouse or tap the keys of our computer can vary for all sorts of reasons, including the time of day, whether we are sitting or moving about, or how much caffeine we’ve ingested. Feher and his colleagues addressed these concerns by devising “a novel method that continuously verifies users … based on the classification results of each individual mouse action, in contrast to methods which aggregate mouse actions.”

These individual actions include the time it takes the click the mouse (with separate stats for the right and left sides), “the distance traveled between the mouse-down and mouse-up events of the first click,” “the time interval between the first click and the second click,” and many, many more.

This approach “outperforms current state-of-the-art methods by achieving higher verification accuracy while reducing the response time of the system,” they report.

Things like “lint clogging the moving parts of mechanical mice” could throw off their equations, the researchers admit. They also concede that a person “using a laptop in two different places may use the touch pad in one place and an external mouse in another,” which complicates verification.

This behavioral science and technological identification technique also works along the more subtle line of  identifying a person through writing style analysis.  Every person is a unique writer.  Individually, we employ various grammatical, spelling and punctuation markers that easily set us apart from the next person.

Although this science is new, and not admissible as proof positive of the writer’s identification, it is very helpful in providing those seemingly nebulous (but, in fact very valuable) fillers that allow us to narrow down our “most likely suspects” list to the hands in charge.  This technique comes in handy in reviewing written materials in extortion, missing person, defamation and many other investigation types wherein the documentation yields the doer.

We now have a better mouse trap.

Our Operatives: Street smart; tech savvy.

As always, stay safe.

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We’re Moving!

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Lina Maini

Image

Who: The Beacon Bulletin and The MainPower Post.

Where: Tuesday

Why: It’s not Monday.

When: This week.

How: Oh… come on.

Seriously, we are moving our weekly blogs to publish on Tuesdays as their scopes have widened and, we want to serve our readers preferences.  Thanks to all who participated in our survey on this issue and well, thanks for reading!  We’ll continue writing and informing!

See you all tomorrow.

Stay safe,

Lina

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EEOC Effectively Bans Employers From Asking Employees About Their Criminal Background.

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Lina Maini

We’re pleased to this week bring you a new article by contributing writer and seasoned legal field professional, Suzanne Reisig Olden.

The EEOC To Employers: You Can’t Ask An Ex-Con/Potential New Employee About His Criminal Record.

By Suzanne Reisig Olden

Last week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  (EEOC) enacted legislation that restricts the ability of employers to ask a prospective employee if s/he has a criminal conviction record.

Specifically (and from the EEOC site):

On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. The Guidance consolidates and supersedes the Commission’s 1987 and 1990 policy statements on this issue as well as the discussion on this issue in Section VI.B.2 of the Race & Color Discrimination Compliance Manual Chapter. It is designed to be a resource for employers, employment agencies, and unions covered by Title VII; for applicants and employees; and for EEOC enforcement staff.

How is Title VII relevant to the use of criminal history information?

There are two ways in which an employer’s use of criminal history information may violate Title VII (“disparate treatment discrimination”).

First, Title VII prohibits employers from treating job applicants with the same criminal records differently because of their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Second, even where employers apply criminal record exclusions uniformly, the exclusions may still operate to disproportionately and unjustifiably exclude people of a particular race or national origin (“disparate impact discrimination”). If the employer does not show that such exclusion is “job related and consistent with business necessity” for the position in question, the exclusion is unlawful under Title VII.

Aside from “Because we can.”, what is the logic behind this new law?  Citing this as one of its primary reasons, the EEOC stated that according to recent studies, 25% of ex-felons are of African-American background; comparatively, twice the US population of that specific demographic.

The NAACP is applauding the decision.  “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s decision will help balance the playing field for job applicants with a criminal history,” NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous said in a statement immediate following the EEOC’s new rule. “Our criminal justice system is deeply biased against people of color, and that disparity can carry over to the job search. These guidelines will discourage employers from discriminating against applicants who have paid their debt to society.”

The NAACP enjoys a rich history in, and well deserved reputation for, forwarding the equal application of civil rights, that includes those of all people, but I will respectfully disagree with Mr. Jealous on this issue in that this new EEOC legislation is the wrong call on hiring practices.

(This ruling is offensive on its face and has a massive negative impact on employers of all races, gender, ethnicity…, as it presumes that private businesses are hiring by race as opposed to the ability to do the job and in compliance with hiring criteria already set forth by the EEOC and many other HR-related agencies.  “Coding” legislation is just another smoke and mirrors governmental overreach and as usual with overly invasive bureaucratic oversteps, hurts the majority of people who it affects.  Playing the race card is NOT a function of the EEOC and I’m not going to, at all, address that disingenuous aspect of the rationale for the new legislation. )

I will, however, question the legitimacy of this ruling in light of (i) existing employment regulations that already protect prospective employees from unfair hiring practices and (ii) the impossibility of complying with this new mandatory hiring guideline and, simultaneously, the 59-page FTC Red Flag law passed in 2010 that boils down to holding an employer responsible for safeguarding client, consumer and patient information against fraud.  Specifically, Red Flag dictates that employers can only make consumer information available to “essential, need to know” employees. The reality is that,  in general and as a good business practice, employers have need-to-know policies in place but they exist on a very fluid plane.   This is particularly true in small to medium-sized companies wherein one or several employees usually take on more work than the position for which they were hired. (Which brings to mind the question, “If an employee is to be promoted to a position that includes previously restricted company/consumer information, can the background of this employee then be checked??  The absolute “need to know” criterion only works well in the military and for obvious reasons.  Soldiers are trained to comply with orders and given their work/lifestyle environments, understand and respect the underlying premise for maintaining information to the level for which they are qualified. They also understand and respect each other to not ask for details they know they should not possess.  The civilian world does not work with that uniformity, leave alone the civility of not prying and then there is the potential of being accidentally and or incidentally exposed to protected information.)

Certain industries are exempt; hypocritically, the majority of federal jobs. Such as most EEOC positions.

Moving along to the actual meat of the new legislation, the EEOC has graciously extended their “Employer Best Practices” suggestions to help civilian employers in following the rules from which they themselves are self-excluded:

  1. Eliminate policies or practices that exclude people from employment based on their criminal record.  (Every position in any company will expose all employees to client, customer or patient information.  The reality is that the house/office cleaner, the CEO, and all of the people in the middle will have access in some form or fashion to this data.  Inevitable.)
  2. Train managers and HR employees about the new Title VII restrictions.  (Okay…)
  3. Develop a “narrowly tailored written policy and procedure for screening applicants and employees for criminal conduct.  (This piece of advice is deceptively suggestive of a good method of noting compliance.  Employers know the opposite is true.  Narrow policy definitions will only aid defense counsel, if a lawsuit situation were to arise, not indicate the thoroughness of hiring practice.)
  4. Identify essential job requirements and the actual circumstances under which the jobs are performed.  (Does Staples sell crystal balls?)
  5. Determine the specific offenses that may demonstrate unfitness for performing such jobs.  (It’s Human Resources, not CSI.)
  6. Identify the criminal offenses based on all available evidence.  (Welcome to the fictional L&O 27th NYPD Precinct.)
  7. Determine the duration of exclusions for criminal conduct based on all available evidence.  (Again, Human Resources.  Not forensics psychology.)
  8. Include an individualized assessment.  (That’s what employers have hired and not hired boxes on interview records.)
  9. Record the justification for the policy and procedures.  (Simply, from the employer, “Because I paid for all of this and it is my knowledge that feeding my family is a good thing and expected.  The other people who work here share this intuition.”)
  10. Note and keep a record of consultations and research considered in crafting the policy and procedures.”  (Can the EEOC spare interns for the book?)

In other words, identify (guess) and justify (guess) which crimes can be excluded and keep copious notes to CYA.  Most importantly, remember that when asking questions about a criminal past, you (as the employer) have to limit your questions to only those that would affect the job.  Add Best Practices #11: Locate and possess a four-leaf clover.

These “tips” are not helpful.  To comply with this overreaching new rule, employers would have to hire a dedicated HR person/team (depending on company size), monitor every employee and have a good employment attorney on redial or the funds for in-house counsel.

How much litigation will restricting conviction record questioning open up for private business entities?  Is the EEOC ready to accept liability when an “uncheckable” employee burns down the store, robs the safe or injures a co-worker?  This major misstep by the EEOC is a dangerous version of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”; the new “Can’t Ask, Won’t Tell”.  (The latter’s acronym is phonetically ironic.)

CAWT is bad policy.  Should employers give ex-con’s a chance? Sure, if and only if  they are comfortable with hiring that person and willing to assume responsibility for the employee’s actions.  The only way an employer can rationally make that decision is by being informed. The “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” question must have the ability to remain on an employee questionnaire.  The EEOC deems it perfectly reasonable for employers to ask a potential new hire for his/her credit report, which is truly intrusive (albeit, necessary for many positions).  Following this train wreck of bloated government logic, it’s okay to find out how much money an employee has at his/her disposal, but not how s/he got it if it looks hinky.

Employers must be freed of these types of, at best, misguided legislated hiring policies.  The EEOC cannot decree that employers must blind-hire.  That is the pared down real objective of this new mandatory hiring guideline.

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