I am currently trying to land a job with an Oil Company in North Dakota, however, I have two pending felony charges for distribution of marijuana (under 200 grams) in the state of Wisconsin. The company has ran a background check and they are currently denying me the position because of the pending charges... I would like to know if it is legal for an employer to discriminate because of a pending charge, after all I am innocent until proven guilty right?

Yes, it's legal - the company can hire anyone it wants to hire, whenever it wants to hire them.

No, in their eyes you're not innocent until proven guilty. In their eyes they have more than one candidate and the othe candidate doesn't have a pending charge.

NOW - if you're the only Asian person having this problem with the hiring process, yes, it's discrimination.

You can always call a Civil Rights Attorney - who would probably love to talk about this.

I guess I am confused because when I do a case search for my charges this is what it states before review the details for each felony;


Notice to employers: It may be a violation of state law to discriminate against a job applicant because of an arrest or conviction record. Generally speaking, an employer may refuse to hire an applicant on the basis of a conviction only if the circumstances of the conviction substantially relate to the particular job. For more information, see Wisconsin Statute 111.335 and the Department of Workforce Development's Arrest and Conviction Records under the Law publication.

Can you prove this is the reason you didn't get the job? It "MAY" be a violation... would distributing marijiuana be a concern to your employer, detrimental to your employment, keep you from getting bonded (or something similar)?

It is absolutely legal for them to deny you employment. They do not know if you will have to go to jail or not. They do not know what other arrests you may have. Most applications ask if you have ever been convicted of a Felony. Also the fact the your case is pending in another state gives them the right to deny you employment. You will probably have to attend court dates in another state. That doesn't bode well for attendance on the new job.

Can you prove this is the reason you didn't get the job? It "MAY" be a violation ... would distributing marijiuana be a concern to your employer, detrimental to your employment, keep you from getting bonded (or something similar)?

I was told directly by the companys' human resources department that the pending charges are the reason they will not hire me. These charges are from 2009, I had just graduated high school, and I was only a teenager. The proceedings have literally taken three years, I am still only going through status hearings, and the reason is because the court system in the particular area is completely unorganized. I am out on a signature bond with permission to leave the state for work. I have been clean from the time the charges came about and I have been employed by two prestigious company's in the last two years. I guess I feel it is unfair, but I understand that there are other candidates who aren't facing felony charges.

There are a few states, ( California I believe but not sure) that have statues that make it illegal to not hire because of pending charges) But this is not the case in most areas.

Even in those areas where it is illegal it is still done, they just know how to hide the fact they are doing it.