Williams v. Feather Sound, Inc.
386 So.2d 1238 (1980)
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Rule of Law:
An employer has a duty to conduct a reasonable inquiry into an employee's background before placing them in a position that creates a foreseeable risk of harm to third parties, particularly when the employment involves access to private residences.
Facts:
- On April 5, 1978, James Carter applied for and was hired by Feather Sound, Inc. for an outside maintenance position.
- Feather Sound's job application did not ask about criminal history, and the hiring manager did not ask Carter about it or check any of his listed references or prior employers.
- After working for three weeks, Feather Sound transferred Carter to an interior maintenance role.
- In his new role, Carter was given a utility belt with tools and a passkey granting him access to residents' townhouse units to make repairs.
- On April 27, Carter entered a unit where Lee Williams was a guest to perform maintenance, leaving without incident.
- Four days later, Carter returned to the same unit and assaulted Williams.
- It was later discovered that Carter had a prior criminal record, including a guilty plea for breaking and entering and assault to commit murder, for which he received probation and psychiatric care, as well as a more recent conviction for 'night prowling'.
- Feather Sound had no actual knowledge of Carter's criminal or psychiatric history.
Procedural Posture:
- Lee Williams sued Feather Sound, Inc. in a Florida trial court seeking damages for an assault committed by its employee.
- The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant, Feather Sound, Inc.
- Lee Williams, as the appellant, appealed the summary judgment to the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District, with Feather Sound, Inc. as the appellee.
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Issue:
Does an employer have a duty to make a reasonable inquiry into an employee's background before transferring them from an outside maintenance position to an inside maintenance position that provides access to residents' private living quarters via a passkey?
Opinions:
Majority - Grimes, J.
Yes. An employer's duty to investigate an employee's background is contingent on the type of work the employee will perform. While an employer may not have a duty to inquire for a low-risk job like outside groundskeeping, a duty to make a reasonable inquiry arises when an employee is given the authority to enter the private living quarters of others. By transferring Carter to an inside position and providing him with passkeys without making any effort to contact his references or prior employers, Feather Sound breached this duty. The employer is therefore chargeable with the information that a reasonable inquiry would have revealed.
Analysis:
This decision establishes a sliding-scale duty of care in negligent hiring cases, tying the scope of the required background investigation to the foreseeability of risk associated with the specific job. It moves the standard from merely what the employer actually knew to what the employer 'should have known' upon reasonable inquiry, especially for positions of trust and access. This precedent significantly impacts employers in industries like property management and in-home services, requiring them to conduct background checks commensurate with the risks of the job. The court balances this duty with public policy concerns, cautioning against creating a rule that would categorically prevent the hiring of individuals with criminal records.
