Negligent Hiring: The Emerging Contributor to Workplace Violence in the Public Sector

Abstract

In this era when workplaces have become “battle zones,” negligent hiring is emerging as a contributing source of employer liability for violence. Public employers have been found liable for violent acts of employees both within and outside their normal scope of employment. The authors analyze negligent hiring doctrine from a human resource management perspective, considering what the U.S. courts are saying and how employer liability can occur. Public employers can develop sound background-checking policies and practices that could both reduce workplace violence and minimize resultant negligent hiring lawsuits.