Workplace Violence Increases in New York City Area after Years of Decline

After years of steep declines, violence in the workplace in the New York metropolitan area has risen significantly, in sharp contrast to the rest of the nation, according to the latest report from the U.S. Labor Department. In its annual survey, the federal agency said that the rise of workplace violence in the New York-Northern New Jersey metropolitan area — which includes New York City and Long Island — is up at a time when the rest of the nation has posted declines in such violence. And the survey saw a significant spike in workplace homicides. The Labor Department recorded a total of 242 fatal work injuries in 2002 in the New York-Northern New Jersey metropolitan area, up from 212 in the previous year, the latest years for which such figures were available. Read More

Child-porn suspect had worked in day care

OLYMPIA — A Pierce County man accused of photographing dozens of sex acts with eight of his foster children worked at a child-care center for 10 years before opening a foster home, according to state records released yesterday. Pierce County sheriff’s detectives who arrested 41-year-old Ronald H. Young last month checked for other potential victims from the Kitsap Peninsula-area child-care center where Young worked in the 1980s but found no allegations. Nor did they find complaints stemming from Young’s work as a youth soccer coach in the early 1990s, said Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer. Read More

Special Olympics Sued in Child Rape

A couple sued the Special Olympics on Thursday, claiming that it should have conducted more thorough background checks on a volunteer who raped their disabled son.

Along with unspecified damages, the couple wants to force the organization to adopt a policy requiring psychological testing and criminal background checks for any volunteer who is left alone with a child, lawyers for the couple said. Read More

UT pres. search comm. voted without in depth background checks

NASHVILLE (AP) — A University of Tennessee trustee said Thursday that the group charged with winnowing candidates for UT president did not conduct in-depth background checks before picking 12 finalists.

Jim Murphy said the council’s vote earlier this week also came without any discussion among the members themselves of information obtained on each candidate. Read More

Background checks worry priest

GARY, Ind. — The top adviser on church law to Gary’s Roman Catholic bishop has asked the Vatican to review a rule that requires the 150 priests in the diocese to undergo criminal background checks.

The Rev. Michael Maginot said the rule is an invasion of privacy and goes beyond reforms aimed at preventing sexual abuse, the Post-Tribune of Merrillville reported today. Read More

Background checks for child care drivers urged

WASHINGTON - Child care centers should require background checks for drivers who transport children and should stop using 15-person vans that are susceptible to rollovers, federal safety investigators said yesterday. Read More