OC Register: Background Check Conducted By University. Cover-Up More Likely

Here we think we are done with Eric Scott’s hiring debacle and Robert Kuwada, OC register, comes up with more detailed info on Scott’s hiring that smacks of cover-up. Turns out that Guerrero and Dorrell incorrectly stated a 3rd party had conducted the background check. Now they say that, as Dohn alluded to earlier, it was the university’s own police department (PD) that did the background check and sent the results to HR, but somehow the results for the flagged “critical position” (quote at end) didn’t get to the athletic department (AD). So, UCLA did know.

UCLA officials said Monday that the background check on receivers coach Eric Scott was conducted by the university and not an outside agency, as previously stated.

No answer yet as to what the PD came up with in their background check (you’d think that piece of info would be important), just that somewhere there was a breakdown in passing along the results to the AD. It can’t be that Scott informed UCLA of his convictions AND that UCLA did not know about them at the same time. Someone is lying and there is no reason why the details of Scott’s hiring are not all out in the open by now.

As we have been saying, this stinks of cover-up. Strange how in the situation of one coach - a coach that happened to have a rap sheet yet also prized recruits for a struggling program - the system did not work. Strange how the system broke down just in time for the AD to not be able to receive such critical information as past convictions … though no fingers are pointed at the PD or HR (imagine how they are enjoying this attention). Also no answer yet as to whether Scott misinformed Guerrero, Dorrell, the AD, HR, and/or the PD on his arrest and conviction record at any point in the hiring process. Seems odd that with all these systems in place to check Scott’s background, including finger printing and flagging Scott’s position as a “critical position” (quote at end), that no one bothered to ASK the applicant. That doesn’t make any sense on the face of it. Someone had to know or it was gross negligence or Scott lied.

Whatever, we still think it’s clear that the AD is trying to make this “go away” as Dorrell insisted and that Scott will be on the sidelines and his prized recruits kept in Dorrell’s ranked recruiting class. At least now that UCLA and Guerrero KNOW that there is a breakdown in the hiring process (somewhere between the PD and HR and the AD, right) Guerrero will order an immediate investigation into the backgrounds of all UCLA coaches and staff in the AD, because obviously we could have a convicted felon representing UCLA and we might not know it. Don’t hold your breath though for that to happen … we know it’s all just a cover story.

From Kuwada’s report (HT Nestor at BruinsNation):

At UCLA, criminal conviction records for job candidates in what are deemed critical positions are obtained through fingerprint checks conducted by the UCLA police department — they check with the state Department of Justice as well as the FBI, for convictions in other states.

The check also might include a verification of an applicant’s identity and educational degree, a review of DMV records, government security clearance and drug testing, as required by law. Only designated human resources professionals on campus have access to and are able to review criminal offender histories.

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