Q: Can my friend answer "no" to this question?
"In the past ten (10) years, have you ever been convicted of a crime involving a felony, misdemeanor, infraction, or violation of any law? Please exclude all traffic violations."
My friend was convicted of § 240.20 Disorderly conduct in NY in 2018. After one year, they were told that it would be sealed. For a background check, would an employer (aviation company) be able to access these sealed records?
A:
This is a tricky area when discussing job applications requesting information of past convictions. You state that the Disorderly Conduct violation conviction was sealed [that should be confirmed with the court to make sure it was done]. The Legal Action Center in NYC advises what to do in the following situation:
" Q: Have you ever been convicted of a crime? If so, explain.
A: If you have any arrests that ended in an unsealed felony or misdemeanor
conviction, answer “YES.” List all unsealed misdemeanor and felony
convictions but do not list anything else.
Answer “NO” if all your arrests ended in offenses (violations or
infractions), dismissals, or JD or YO adjudications.
If you have only sealed felony or misdemeanor convictions, we believe
you should be able to say “no” because the law says that an employer is not
allowed to ask about this information or use it in making employment
decisions AND that you do not need to disclose the information if
asked. BUT no court has ruled whether you can say “no” in response to
this illegal question."
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