Two former security guards are asking a Pennsylvania court to block enforcement of a state law that bans people who were convicted of certain crimes from working as security guards.
Jamar Patterson, 37, was convicted of drug-related offenses when he was 19 years old, but he has maintained a clear record and steady employment since then, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. Patterson was offered a job as an unarmed security guard with Allied Universal Security Services in 2022, but after he told his prospective employer about his 2005 felony conviction, the offer was rescinded, the lawsuit said.
In taking back the job offer, Allied Universal referenced Pennsylvania’s Private Detective Act, which prohibits companies from knowingly employing anyone who has been convicted of a felony or certain misdemeanors.
Many states have restrictions on security guard licensing for people with criminal convictions, but they often have time limits on the restriction or have processes in place for authorities to give exceptions.
Advertisement
“Pennsylvania is definitely among the most restrictive, if not the most restrictive,” said Jamie Gullen, managing attorney of the Employment Unit at Community Legal Services, which provides legal services to low-income Philadelphians.
Like Patterson, Abron Ash, 49, also lost a job due to the Private Detective Act. Ash was a security guard for McGinn Security, which hired him in 2017 to work at Philadelphia International Airport. Allied Universal later...
HealthNow New York Inc. failed to show that a whistleblower’s False Claims Act suit alleging healthcare fraud violates Article II of the US Constitution, a federal district judge said, but an appe...