WI Supreme Court says WFEA definition of ‘arrest record’ includes municipal offenses

In a recent decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court interpreted the term “arrest record”—which is a prohibited basis of employment discrimination under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA)—to include municipal offenses. The WFEA defines “arrest record” as “information indicating that an individual has been questioned, arrested, charged with, indicted or tried for any felony, misdemeanor or other offense pursuant to any law enforcement or military authority.” At issue in the case was whether the phrase “any . . . other defense” included noncriminal offenses. The majority opinion ruled that it does, affirming the decision of the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC). The decision underscores the sweeping nature of the WFEA’s express statutory purpose of “protect[ing] by law the rights of all individuals to obtain gainful employment and to enjoy privileges free from employment discrimination.”

What happened?

The Oconomowoc Area School District employed Gregory and Jeffrey Cota as grounds crew members. During their employment, the district opened an investigation into allegations they had retained the district’s scrap money for themselves. The investigation concluded the district hadn’t received a sum of $5,638.81 in scrap money. However, it didn’t conclude which employee or employees were responsible for the cash shortfall.