On March 10, 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court released its decision in Cree, Inc. v. Labor and Industry Review Commission, which provides significant clarity for employers evaluating whether a domestic-related crime of an employee or applicant is substantially related to a job and thus a lawful reason for discharging or not hiring the individual. In issuing the 4–3 decision, the court rejected a line of Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC) precedent and limited an employee’s or applicant’s ability to avoid the “substantial relationship” defense in the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act based on a close personal relationship (e.g., one involving a spouse, relative, or boyfriend/girlfriend) with the victim.
In 2015, Derrick Palmer applied for and then received an offer of employment for an applications specialist position at Cree, Inc. The job duties and responsibilities for the applications specialist position included designing and recommending lighting systems to customers without close supervision. The position also required travel away from Cree’s facility, including to customers’ facilities and trade shows. The offer was contingent on Palmer’s completing a background check.
Palmer’s background check revealed that in 2013 he had been convicted of committing eight crimes of domestic violence against his live-in girlfriend. These convictions included two counts of felony strangulation and suffocation, four counts of misdemeanor battery, one count...
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