I don't want to write a book about how I got my felony. This Blog is about the doors I have had shut in my face, the prejudice i experience and how unequal equal opportunity companies are.
My felony is a Drug related federal felony in which I have 2 charges one of drug possession of 2 kilos and drug trafficking. I served 1 month in a holding facility and 1 year in a work release program. I was such a good example of a probationee that my probation officer released me early. In my trial I had DEA agents speak on behave of me stating "of years of random observation of the defendant he has not re offended and felt I was the 5% of people who would not re offend" and told the judge that if it was up to them they would let me walk with only probation and time served. My pretrial services officer claimed that I was never ever an issue and concurred with the DEA's statement for punishment.
I had a stellar job as a bank for a majority of my life and have a top notch resume. I am an honest person and I keep it real. When asked on a application "have you ever been convicted of a felony?" I answer truthfully and when i do, no calls and when following up they never return calls or get no real answers. We all really know why. When i don't mark anything I get job offers on the first interviews. The hiring managers are all smiles and cant wait to get me on board till the find out about my past. I am smart, motivated, confident and a very charismatic guy. I am very qualified to manage offices and have a long list successful accomplishments, awards and recognition awards.
Here is a list of few examples of employers and examples of my experiences:
Bank Of America- Business Banking Specialist- Hired on the spot, did my background and did not hear from them at all for 3 months and got a notice that I had to be three states over for training the next day then fired for
not showing up.
Comerica Bank- Assistant Manager- Hired on the spot did my background check and fired for not disclosing my felony
Check n' Go- Branch Manager- Hired worked for 3 years in which I was in the top 5% performers in the company took on a new Auto loan program which required me to do a Live Scan fired a few weeks later.
Chase Bank- Hired on the spot because he overlooked the box check: Felony then revoked his decision with the excuse they found someone more qualified.
And most don't even respond to me at all
Here is the problem. Although my work ethic and accomplishments is an employers dream candidate, they throw it all out the window for something that happen 14+ years ago. People change and instead of chalking all people who have a felony as the worst person in the world, get to know them, give them the opportunity to explain the situation and what they have done since then. You would be surprised to find out like you we have a dream to have a good job, the house, the dog and the family. My family suffers from this because you wont give me an opportunity to prove what i am capable of.
I read this:
According to the language of AB 218, authored by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, "a state or local agency shall not ask an applicant for employment to disclose, orally or in writing, information concerning the conviction history of the applicant, including any inquiry about conviction history on any employment application, until the agency has determined the applicant meets the minimum employment qualifications, as stated in any notice issued for the position."- http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/07/12/CA-State-Employers-Can-No-Longer-Ask-For-Criminal-History-On-Job-Applications
I have also found programs in which the government offers a bond to help felons get jobs under "THE FEDERAL BONDING PROGRAM" employers still tell me no. Even though there are programs like these the discrimination is still there. I meet and exceed the requirements that most jobs post but still once they find out the employers treat me like I have the plague. I have been trying to get back into banking for quite sometime now with no luck. My felony is not a Violent crime nor has to due with Fraud. Just made a bad mistake as a kid and since then have tried moving on. I am the 5% who have not re offended.
The assembly men went on in the same article to say "If a person can't find a job, the odds increase dramatically that the person is simply going to return to what they were doing before," Dickinson told Capital Public Radio. "They'll end up offending again and in all likelihood returning to incarceration." I love my family and could never be apart from them so for me this is not an option no matter how bad it is. The other 95%, well these are the conversations I had with a lot of them while I spent my time in. Trust me when i say this in the world I experience loyalty is a HUGE factor and I know that if given the opportunity to have a good job especially in my case as Bank Manager again, there is no way would i EVER JEOPARDIZE my second chance. In fact my loyalty for that company would be maybe too extreme that no job too big or small that I wouldn't do for them.
So employers think about that next time you have someone in front of you and you are hearing about something that happen in their life before. You could potentially be changing someones life with a chance to improve their's...
Your story is almost a mirror of my son's. He has a college degree & 10 years experience in IT. He has a felony now & has been offered 4 jobs but all have been taken back when they learn of his felony. It was not violent or job related. He served 5 months in a probation detention center. He has 3 more job offers coming in this week & will probably have them taken back too once they learn of his background. He has been honest about his background but they don't care. Something has to change. I hope you have found a job that will work with you. EEOC has come out with lawsuits over Title VII discrimination of criminal backgrounds. Keep fighting for your job chance.
ReplyDeleteI am a 33 year old woman that is a convicted felon ... in my early 20s , we'll after graduation of high school... I worked for my city's school board and even worked for the federal government for a few years.. I always believed working was a right , not a privelege... boy was I wrong... i was fired from my government job after they were notified that I had been arrested for suspicion of my involement incriminal activity... jobless, because of allegations that were untrue by the way ,I was introduced to white collar crime as a way to cover my legal exspenses.. I've never been criminal minded and was subsequently arrested and charged and convicted of Grand theft.. I served a 16 month term and was also discharged early from parole... I applied for jobs upon my release and never got them because of my record... after a while of trying, I gave up, became severely depressed and turned to drugs... I became homeless and gave up on life,for a few years... a recent turn of events or maybe I was finally able to hear God telling me to get up and keep striving , I have been clean and sober and wanting desperately to get my life in order...after goin to a few agencies, most of which denied me employment, I applied a select staffing and informed them of my past, and was offered a position. .. a minimum wage paying job with no chance of advancement, where no one spoke English. ... despite my resume being a bit accomplished, and the fact that I had never had such a low paying job that required strenuous work, I was excited and thankful and my drive to want do my best helped me excel in a field I no nothing about... well after 2 months I got a letter in the mail saying my employment will be terminated due to back ground check results.. I know I have come to far to turn back now and now feel it's my calling to change they way ex offenders are treated unfairly... I'm just starting to do research and pray that God guides me and anoints my steps, because this is a horrible injustice.. especially when reading the statistics of racial groups and incarceration, I noticed that as a black person. 1out of 3,will obtain a criminal record.. do there time, want better but be forced back into a life of crime from hopelessness and despair. ..we must stop this cycle
ReplyDelete. I appreciate ur blog and wish u success in ur journey for change
I also have a Federal Felony on Drug charge in 2005. Upon release I went back to got my college and graduating with my degree May 2016 with a 3.97 GPA, all while working full time and maintaining a family house hold. I have been working at the same job since my release in 2011 to halfway house (because my friend is the owner of the business). I have stayed out of trouble since my release and have been applying for jobs related to my field since in the Electrical or IT field. With 16 years of experience and now a degree to back it up. The last job that I applied for (Time Warner Cable) I was offered the job and did all the per-hiring paper work such as W-2, I-9, direct deposit and such. Passed my drug test and was called 4-22-2016 by Time Warner that they were longer going forward the hiring process because of my record. I did not hide it and put all the required information. On their search of the past 7 years nothing came up on the State or Nation Wide search. Because I was truthful and added it, they specifically did a search and of course found it. I don't think there any words that can describe how I felt after that phone call. With a drug conviction that happen over a decade, I can't even work for a cable company to install cable. There are other jobs that also have denied me because of my past. The one and only biggest mistake of my life. In this times a house hold needs to incomes to survive. Working dead end jobs where they expect %200 effort with minimal pay just doesn't cut it. Same people that tell you there are jobs out there are the first ones to pass you up. It's been an uphill battle trying to find gainful employment. One can only hope and dream.
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