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4 Halfmoon Executive Park Drive Clifton Park, New York 12065 Ph: (518) 514-AWIG (2944) Fx: (518) 514-2947 Toll Free: (800) 579-2911 www.allianceinvestigative.com Inside this issue: Subcontractors... are they a liability? PCI's Employment Law In the news... Legislative Corner Upcoming Events Important Statistics Real Cases Contact Us Upcoming Events: • May 29th, 2009: ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) will be holding an education seminar titled, Performance Matters!. The program will run from 8:30AM 4PM. For additional information, please contact our office, (800) 579-2911. • May 20, 2009 5:00pm: Albany Claims Association will be celebrating its 75th Anniversary at the Crossgates Restaurant. For additional information, please contact our office, (800) 579-2911. • June 10 – 12th: The New York State Self Insured Association will be holding its annual conference in Grand Island New York. For additional information, please contact our office, (800) 579-2911. Important Statistics: • 4 Million workplace injuries occur each year. • In 2005, 5,764 fatal workplace injuries occurred. • Estimated totals of top seven arrest offenses in the United States in descending order: -Drug Abuse violations -Driving under the influence -Simple assaults -Larceny/theft -Disorderly conduct -Liquor laws -Drunkenness Source FBI, Uniform Crime Reports Real Cases: • Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group recently conducted a background investigation proving the importance of thorough due-diligence based background investigations. Prior to Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group this client never conducted background investigations however the investigation unveiled that the applicant they had been interviewing to employ had served many years in jail and was charged with Murder and pled guilty to 1st Degree Manslaughter along with many other criminal offenses. • A potential employee’s background investigation through the investigators of Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group revealed that the applicant had served time in prison and was then charged with attempted escape. • A client’s top applicant for employment with their company turned out not to be the best pick after a background investigation conducted through experienced investigators revealed several criminal charges. Such charges which were pled guilty to included resisting arrest, 3rd degree forgery, attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance, assault and criminal possession of a weapon which resulted in imprisonment and probation after time served. Contact Us: 4 Halfmoon Executive Park Drive Clifton Park, New York 12065 Ph: (518) 514-AWIG (2944) Fx: (518) 514-2947 Toll Free: (800) 579-2911 www.allianceinvestigative.com
	The Loss Mitigator™
	Volume II Issue II Subcontractors…are they a liability? By Derek Devenpeck, Account Executive Many companies, from Fortune 500’s to small businesses have relationships with subcontractors. The question is how well do you know them and are you putting your company at risk? Imagine you have a subcontractor working for you and they completely screw up a job or worse yet, maybe the subcontractor commits a crime while working for you. These are some of the nightmares companies have had to deal with. Don’t let this happen to you, protect your brand reputation today, by screening subcontractors or vendors through a due-diligence based background investigation process. Recently, AWIG completed a vendor investigation for a client who was contracting with a cleaning agency. Upon completion of the investigation, it was reported that the owner of the business had defaulted on many loans and had neglected to pay taxes for the past several years. For more information, please contact our office, (800) 579-2911. PCI's By Jeffrey Schermerhorn, Account Executive On March 9th 2009, Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group Inc. pioneered a new concept of conducting a preliminary claimant investigation or PCI for short, upon receipt of an investigative request. The goal of the PCI is to ensure a higher success rate on investigative findings during the course of an investigation. The preliminary claimant investigation has been made a part of our investigative process as a result of the trial period where the value of the information gathered was realized. A PCI includes a social security number verification, complete address history search, statewide complete convictions, federal criminal convictions search, motor crafts report which includes searches of multiple types of motor vehicle records including but not limited to automobiles, boats, trailers, snowmobiles, ATV’s and RV’s. The PCI also includes a countywide civil search which will return any DBA filings, federal civil search and sex offender registry. Since implementation of the above process, Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group, Inc. has documented many examples of the importance of conducting a preliminary claimant investigation. Several DBA filings have been uncovered on Claimants who reported to be totally disabled and facts uncovered revealed they actually had a DBA filing and were conducting business as business owners. Other beneficial information gathered included the registration of ATV’s as well as boats and Jet Ski’s. Our investigative team was able to strategize surveillance efforts and gear them around the knowledge gained by completing the PCI which resulted in a reduction in benefits paid out by our clients. For additional information, please feel free to contact our offices to speak with an investigative professional @ 1-800-579-2911. Employment Law: John Bagyi’s things to consider By John M. Bagyi, Esq., SPHR Ten Questions To Ask Yourself When Screening/Hiring Are all those involved in the screening/hiring process familiar with what pre-employment inquiries are prohibited? Have all disability related inquiries been removed from pre-hire paperwork (e.g., application)? Are all disability related inquiries and medical examinations (including alcohol tests) administered post-offer? If information concerning protected characteristics is needed for screening/hiring (e.g., maiden name, date of birth, copy of drivers license) has a “wall” been established between this information and those involved in the hiring process to insure protected characteristics are not considered as part of the hiring decision? As silly as it sounds – did the applicant complete the job application? Are all questions answered? Have you instructed applicants to transfer all information from their resume to the job application? Has the applicant certified that the information he/she has provided is true, accurate and complete? How did the applicant respond to the question concerning criminal convictions? Was the response truthful when compared to the background check? Have you asked the applicant to provide details of the conviction(s)? Have you provided the applicant with a copy of Article 23(a) of the Corrections Law? Are there any criminal convictions that are directly related to the ability to perform the specific job sought or does the individual’s conviction history pose an unreasonable risk to the public or to property? Are you asking all candidates for the position the same “core” questions? Are the questions you are asking related to the position for which they are interviewing? Have you asked why the applicant left each of his/her prior positions? Are the explanations credible? Has the applicant explained gaps in his his/her employment history? Were any half-truths or outright lies discovered during the screening/hiring process? Did you “Google” the candidate? If so, did you do so pursuant to a policy or practice that is consistently followed to insure it is not used selectively/discriminatorily utilized? Were steps taken to insure that information concerning protected characteristics (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation, age, national origin) was not shared with hiring managers? The information contained in this column is intended as general background information on labor and employment law. It is not to be considered legal advice or a substitute for professional counseling or advice. John M. Bagyi, Esq., SPHR, serves as Deputy Managing Attorney of Bond, Schoeneck & King’s Albany Office, where he counsels and represents employers of all types and sizes in a variety of labor and employment contexts. John can be reached at jbagyi@bsk.com or 518-533-3229. April 10, 2009: Suspect involved in ’01 post office scam This article highlights the importance of conducting background ground investigations as well as the significance of searching multiple alias’. Desiree Seneca Morales-Jimenez was charged two weeks ago with 26 felony counts of identity deception and fraud while working at the Shelbyville H&R Block office. She is accused of creating false IDs on tax-refund credit cards for her own financial gain and currently in jail awaiting trial. During her time at H&R Block, she created 6 different identities to obtain more than $3,000 in credit card advance money for fictional clients receiving income tax refunds. In addition, she has changed her name five times the last eight years from McVey, Stephens, Caudill, Orick and currently Morales-Jimenez. She also has a lengthy criminal record involving larceny, fabricating a kidnapping scheme, misdemeanor charges ranging from check deception and disorderly conduct to visiting a common nuisance and many counts of failure to appear in court. For more information, visit http://www.shelbynews.com. April 2009: Negligent Hiring This article shows the importance of conducting background investigations on temp employees or employees referred through staffing agencies. In California, a patient was sexually assaulted by a nurse and if the hospital had conducted a background investigation, they would have found that the nurse had been fired from previous employers for assaulting female patients. A lower court held that the plaintiff could not sue because the nurse was officially employed by a third party, however, the California appellate court over ruled the decision and that the hospital had sufficient supervisory authority over those working at the facility to be held liable for the nurses actions. For more information, visit http://www.asisonline.org. Legislative Corner A bill (H.B. 2031) introduced in the Arizona House of Representatives would mandate third-party contractors, subcontractors, and vendors working in public schools to undergo a background investigation and a federal fingerprint check prior to working on school property. Those who pass the screening investigation would be required to carry a fingerprint clearance card while on school premises.

2008 Alliance Worldwide Investigative Group, Inc.