Why Do You Care? Or, Putting It More Bluntly, Why Aren’t You Minding Your Business?

Posted By Cliff Tuttle | August 15, 2009

Posted by Cliff Tuttle (c) 2009

So, Michael Vick was back on the labor market this past week and, sure enough, somebody hired him. Then, talk show hosts and their callers spent the next day or so discussing whether Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles should have been permitted to strike a deal.

Of course, everybody knows that if he hadn’t been a premium NFL quarterback, he would have probably been unable to get a job taking tickets at the gate or selling popcorn in the stands. Does that actually mean something?

An employer can, generally speaking, hire whomever he wants, except for jobs requiring a government license. There are risks hiring people with a record of serious crime. It may not be worth the risk when there are plenty of others willing and able to take tickets or sell popcorn. But there are not plenty of other Michael Vicks.

And he couldn’t get a job as a teacher, either. But that involves close personal contact with students — something the state prohibits by regulation and school boards prevent by policy. Fortunately for us, we and our families don’t have to interact with him at all. Behind the television screen (the only I’ll ever see him, if I do) he can do you or me no harm.

CLT

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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