Criminal Records at Issue : Rape Brings Review of Day-Laborer Policy

The rape of a Sylmar woman by a state Employment Development Department day laborer has prompted the department to re-evaluate its policy of not checking the criminal records of applicants for the day-labor program.

“This tragedy played a major role in our decision to conduct an in-depth review,” Valerie Reynoso, a spokeswoman for the department in Sacramento, said Tuesday. “Whenever an alarming incident like this rape occurs, we are compelled to strive for ways to ensure that this never happens again.”

But department records indicate that the attack was an isolated incident, Reynoso said Tuesday, adding that she could find no other complaints or lawsuits alleging assaults by day laborers.

Referred by Department

The rape of the 60-year-old Sylmar woman occurred June 10, about two hours after she hired David Peter Madsen, 29, of Sylmar. Madsen, who was referred to the woman through the department’s program, was on parole after a 1982 rape conviction. He was sentenced last week to 16 years in state prison.

A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections said last week that parole officers often refer parolees to the day-labor program. The department readily acknowledges that many parolees commit more crimes, noting a 40% rate of return to prison for parole violations or other offenses.

Reynoso said last week that state law prevents the department from reviewing criminal records. On Tuesday, however, she said that the practice was not a matter of law but departmental policy.

Cites Departmental Thinking

She said the department believes that people “who have paid their debt to society” should not be denied work.

“We firmly believe that every Californian is entitled to seek and secure employment,” she said.

Reynoso said the policy review includes analysis of appropriate laws to see how much information about the day laborers’ backgrounds could be disclosed to people who seek to hire them.

People seeking employment through the program now are only asked to complete a “mini-application” that asks their name, Social Security number and whether they are military veterans, Reynoso said. They present a card of introduction to their potential employers stating that their backgrounds were not checked, she said.

Reynoso said the policy review began about two months ago, and that she did not know when it will be completed. The department has operated a number of job programs, including the one for day laborers, since 1936, Reynoso said.