Tonkon Torp attorney Corbett Gordon recently participated in a panel at the Dave’s Killer Bread Foundation Second Chance Summit. The purpose of the Summit was to share experiences hiring and working with "second chance employees" – employees who have served time and are eager to re-enter the workforce. Corbett’s panel discussed risk management and legal considerations in the hiring and employment of second chance applicants. She also discussed proper implementation of the new “Ban the Box” legislation in Oregon that goes into effect January 1, 2016.
Corbett addressed the developing body of anecdotal but consistent statistics that establish that second chance employees are no more likely to cause disruption at work than employees without criminal backgrounds, as well as the nationwide discovery among employers who are open to hiring second chance applicants that they tend to be fiercely loyal to the employer who gives them a chance for employment, thus enhancing retention ratios. Corbett's legal perspective dovetailed with a fellow speaker’s input that, while an employer cannot insure against a negligent hire, employers can purchase affordable "employee dishonesty" insurance that covers many potential problems. Employers contemplating second chance hiring find this reassuring. For instance, one of the things covered by these insurance policies is theft. Significantly, however, claims under employee dishonesty coverage have not been higher for second chance employers than for other employers.
A member of the firm’s Labor & Employment practice group, Gordon is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most respected labor and employment lawyers. With more than three decades of experience representing private and public sector employers in traditional labor matters, she has also defended employment cases before juries in state and federal courts in Oregon and Washington and successfully prevailed in client appeals in state and federal courts as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court.