Phys. Plant worker fired after Quad incident

The intoxicated Physical Plant worker who entered the Quadrangle and harassed a group of residents earlier this month was fired Friday after a week-long suspension, according to Physical Plant Superintendent of Landscape Maintenance Bill Gross. Gross said yesterday that the gardener had been previously disciplined several times for inappropriate behavior. Gross added that he believes the worker had no criminal history when he was initially employed by the University. But several students have raised concerns about the safety of residences in light of the incident, and have questioned the criteria used to determine who is allowed entrance to University dormitories. College freshman Carter Caldwell said he thinks the backgrounds of employees who have access to student residences need to be investigated more thoroughly in order to avoid future incidents of employee misconduct. Caldwell was one of the students harassed by the Physical Plant employee two weeks ago. "They have a key to your room, and if they were once convicted of grand theft there could be a problem later," he said. According to Manager of Human Resources Services David Smith, a prospective employee is required to submit two references from previous employers in order to be hired by the University. In addition, there is a question on the application asking if the prospective worker has been convicted of a felony within the past 10 years. Smith added that the criminal histories of security guards and security desk personnel are investigated prior to employment. But maintenance and housekeeping personnel are not questioned. Wharton freshman Vivek Bantwal said he believes the present standard of investigation of potential University employees is not thorough enough. "All University employees who have access to where people are living should have an extensive background check," he said. But Director of Physical Plant James Wargo said the process the University employs is "pretty common throughout the industry." Smith noted that regardless of a worker's background, it difficult to find a correlation between crime on campus and the histories of University employees. "I think given the size of this institution, there have not been a lot of incidences," he added. Wargo added that with so many people working in residences, this month's incident was "more isolated than anything." But Smith said that there is still room for improvement in the hiring process for University employees. "People who make selections and do interviews need to be very thorough in their questions about the caliber of people coming in," he said.