A Case Of Davis Vs. The Board Of County Commissioners Of Doña Ana County

1. What was the legal issue in this case?

The legal issue in the case of Davis vs. The Board of County Commissioners of Doña Ana County is the acts of negligent referral or mis-representation.
Joseph Herrera was hired on January 20, 1995 as an employee of the Mesilla Valley Hospital (MVH) as a mental health technician. Herrera was assigned to care for a mental ill patient undergoing psychiatric therapy and is a plaintiff in this case. The patient says while undergoing therapy, she was physically abused, sexual assault and harassed by Herrera.
In the hiring process at MVH, Herrera was reference by his former supervisors, Frank Steele and Al Mochen at Dona Ana County Detention Center. According to the plaintiff, Herrera was hired based on

Any employer, of course wants a zero-tolerance workplace violence policies, improving workplace security measures, increasing training of employees, managers and supervisors. Therefore, when hiring new employees, it is critical to check for references. The referral has the duties and responsibility to be honest in disclosing reasons why a potential employee should be hire and things future employer should be aware to make inform hiring decision. Reference checking has become an important part of the hiring process due to workplace violence and lawsuits. Former employers or people who are reference can be sued when they involved in incident at a new workplace that might have been predicted based on prior behavior. According to the HIPAA article, negligent referral or misrepresentation includes the failure to disclose complete and accurate information about former employees. Unfortunately, due to favoritism or whatever the reason may be, referee doesn’t disclose all the necessary information. Any misleading reference or foreseeable act not mentions in the reference may raise potential for claims from a victim or another third party who is harmed by the former

Herrera. I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Tinie Herrera for the past two years. In my opinion he is an excellent employee and supervisor for the Dona Ana County Detention Center. In developing social programs for the inmate population, he displayed considerable initiative and imagination. Tinie was instrumental in the Department's maintenance program and was involved in remodeling projects. I know that this Department will suffer for his leaving. Employees of his caliber are difficult to find. I am confident that you would find Tinie to be an excellent employee. Should you need verbal confirmation of his ability, I would deem it a pleasure to respond to any inquiries that you may have, signed by Frank Steel. In addition, when MHV Representative called the Detention Center to further check Herrera’s information, Mochen claimed that Herrera is “good person, hard worker”, and he would definitely rehire Herrera (Walsh, 2010).
3. Should it have mattered that the former employer’s investigation was not able to confirm all of the allegations against Herrera? Explain your