An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 3 – Hiring

Biard later testified he did not interview Reeves because he lacked time to interview all qualified candidates and because he “found precisely the candidate he was looking for” in Blanchard- Saiger. However, Biard did acknowledge that he formed a negative impression of Reeves because Reeves submitted his résumé from his employer’s email address during working hours. Biard also disliked the fact that Reeves had never worked for a law firm and did not highlight his litigation experience on his résumé. The trial court granted summary judgment for the employer. Reeves appealed, claiming MV’s reasons for its failure to hire him were pre-textual because: (1) his credentials were superior to Blanchard-Saiger’s; (2) MV’s explanations for its failure to hire him were inconsistent; and (3) MV destroyed evidence relevant to the case because it discarded all applications after it hired Blanchard-Saiger, as was MV’s standard practice at the time. The California Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for MV. Nonetheless, the court noted that the employer failed to maintain all job applications for the period of time required by statute. The court cautioned that failure to document reasons for choosing one applicant over another adequately, and destruction of evidence, could push a “close case” over the line. Schools should therefore review their hiring practices to ensure that they document their impressions of job applicants, and that they preserve these records, along with the job applications themselves. A. W HY M AINTAIN P ERSONNEL F ILES The proper maintenance and use of employee personnel files is very important for schools. Not only are there legal requirements that mandate personnel file maintenance, but proper use of personnel files can serve as an effective tool to correct employee deficiencies at an early stage. Schools and employees often disagree as to what information the schools should maintain in the employees’ personnel file. On the one hand, employees generally prefer that schools include only “positive” information in their personnel files as the personnel files are the official repository for the employees’ work history. Employers, on the other hand, have an interest in using a personnel file to document and record employees’ performance in order to correct the employees’ non-desirous habits or trends. Often, employees whom schools seek to discipline claim that the offensive conduct at issue was merely an isolated incident or that they never received a warning that the conduct in question could lead to discipline. A properly maintained personnel file that identifies and documents employee behavior can effectively negate these arguments. Section 6 M AINTENANCE OF P ERSONNEL F ILES

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