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42 Wake Forest L. Rev. 991 (2007)
Adverse Employment Consequences Triggered by Criminal Convictions: Recent Cases Interpret State Statutes Prohibiting Discrimination

handle is hein.journals/wflr42 and id is 999 raw text is: ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT CONSEQUENCES TRIGGERED BY CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS: RECENT CASES INTERPRET STATE STATUTES PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION Christine Neylon O'Brien* Jonathan J. Darrow** I. INTRODUCTION In a scene from the movie Good Will Hunting,1 an M.I.T. mathematics professor mistakenly reprimands Will, the brilliant young janitor played by Matt Damon, for writing on the blackboard where he is actually solving an impossibly difficult equation. After the professor realizes that Will has solved the problem rather than defaced the board, he tracks down Will's supervisor in order to locate Will. The supervisor responds that Will obtained his job through his P.O., an abbreviation for probation officer. The professor pauses over this revelation; perhaps this colloquialism represents a phenomenon seen more frequently within Will's socioeconomic class than in the upper echelons of the academic world. The culture clash and class gap is apparent between the two characters-the professor initially seems not to have had the same exposure to the vagaries of the criminal justice system and its lingering requirements on ex-offenders, such as the need to maintain contact with a probation officer. Will knows what those requirements and restrictions are, and how they hover over his daily life, seemingly limiting his freedom, choices, and opportunities for the future. An orphan who has been abused in multiple foster homes, Will portrays the sort of psychologically troubled youth who continually shoots himself in the foot each time he starts to walk * Professor and Chair of Business Law, Carroll School of Management, Boston College. B.A. Boston College; J.D. Boston College Law School. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Professors David P. Twomey and Stephanie Greene of Boston College for reviewing an earlier draft of this article and providing helpful comments. ** Assistant Professor of Business Law, Plymouth State University. B.S. Cornell University; J.D. Duke University; M.B.A. Boston College. 1. GOOD WILL HUNTING (Miramax Films 1997). 991

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