Wisconsin Supreme Court weighs in on state’s criminal conviction law

Wisconsin is one of many states that limits the use of arrest and conviction records when hiring employees. The key exception to the use of a criminal conviction record is whether it substantially relates to the circumstances of the particular job. The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently addressed the issue in a case where an applicant engaged in extreme domestic violence. The court exonerated the employer for revoking an offer of employment.

Facts

In 2013, Derrick Palmer was convicted of committing eight crimes of domestic violence against his live-in girlfriend. He pleaded no contest to two counts of felony strangulation and suffocation, four counts of misdemeanor battery, one count of fourth-degree sexual assault, and one count of criminal damage to property. The circuit court sentenced him to 30 months in prison, 30 months of extended supervision, and four years of probation and ordered him to register as a sex offender. He also had a 2001 battery conviction related to domestic violence.

In 2015, Palmer applied to work at Cree, Inc.’s Racine, Wisconsin, facility as an applications specialist. At that time, Cree manufactured and marketed lighting components. It employed approximately 1,100 people in Racine. The facility itself spanned 600,000 square feet, including manufacturing space, storage areas, offices, cubical farms, break rooms, and the like. Although security cameras monitored some portions of the facility, there were also many “nooks and crannies” throughout that experienced little foot traffic, no security camera coverage, and noise loud enough to drown out a person’s voice.