False allegations make me untouchable?

[DylanWV]

I work, and have worked for about 8 years now at a juvenile treatment facility. The position that I have held for the majority of this time is that of Shift Manager, a position that routinely and regularly requires me to deal with our adolescent clients when they are acting out. The clients that my facility takes have behavioral issues and many are juvenile offenders. During my time here we have had several "outbreaks" of clients making unfounded and outrageous accusations against staff in the belief that by doing so they will be able to retaliate against the staff they dislike or otherwise better their own standings. In my position I have had a large number of these allegations leveled against me. None of them had any factual basis and after being investigated they were all dropped.

Today I applied for a job as a federal corrections officer and even with an otherwise very desirable background I was told that the number of accusations against me makes me too "high risk" to be considered for federal employment.

Is there any way to combat this with the fact that all of the allegations were unfounded and untrue? Are there any options to make these go away so that they do not continue to affect me moving forward? Or am I now simply "untouchable" because I chose to work at my current job? Thank you for any advise you can give.

 

[cbg]

You know that no employer is required to hire you, right? That even if you can somehow make this all go away, it isn't going to force them to hire you?

 

[DylanWV]

You know that no employer is required to hire you, right? That even if you can somehow make this all go away, it isn't going to force them to hire you?

I am very much aware of this, I am also aware that my state (WV) is an "at will" employment state. This situation is different however.
The interviewer told me that without these accusations they would love to hire me today. I have a strong military and employment background that makes me very much a viable candidate for the type of work that I was/am applying for.
The issue is not that I want to "force" them to hire me, it is that these false accusations are being used as the sole reason for denying my employment. I understand that working with juveniles that all allegations have to be taken seriously but when do my rights as the wrongfully accused come in to the picture?

 

[cbg]

When it comes to Federal employment, I don't know. I do know that one of a recruiter's favorite ways of saying I'm not interested in hiring you is, "I'd love to hire you but unfortunately you have too many/not enough x which prevents me from doing so."

 

[gryndor]

When it comes to Federal employment, I don't know. I do know that one of a recruiter's favorite ways of saying I'm not interested in hiring you is, "I'd love to hire you but unfortunately you have too many/not enough x which prevents me from doing so."

The old "it's not you, it's me" yarn?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I am very much aware of this, I am also aware that my state (WV) is an "at will" employment state. This situation is different however.
The interviewer told me that without these accusations they would love to hire me today. I have a strong military and employment background that makes me very much a viable candidate for the type of work that I was/am applying for.
The issue is not that I want to "force" them to hire me, it is that these false accusations are being used as the sole reason for denying my employment. I understand that working with juveniles that all allegations have to be taken seriously but when do my rights as the wrongfully accused come in to the picture?

How did your employer deal with such complaints? I assume they were investigated. Was something not added to your file clearing you of such charges?

 

[cbg]

The old "it's not you, it's me" yarn?

Yup.