Brad has a criminal history that disqualifies him from serving as a telecommunicator, but the local PSAP is in desperate need of telecommunicators, so he is hired. What link to tort would this fall under?

• A. Defamation
• B. Negligent retention
• C. Negligent hire
• D. Assault

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is how employers must exercise reasonable care when selecting people for sensitive roles. In a public safety communications center, hiring someone who has a criminal history that would disqualify them creates a foreseeable risk to the public and to the operation. The tort of negligent hiring covers exactly this: an employer is liable if it fails to perform a reasonable background check or otherwise hire someone who is unfit for the job, and that failure can lead to harm or risk arising from the employee’s work.

So, bringing Brad on despite his disqualifying history demonstrates negligent hiring—the employer didn’t exercise the required level of care in the hiring decision. Defamation would involve false statements harming someone's reputation, and assault is a crime. Negligent retention would apply if the person were kept on after issues were known, not the initial hire.