People Behind ESR

LES ROSEN, PRESIDENT & CEO

Lester S. Rosen, President and CEO of Employment Screening Resources (ESR), graduated UCLA with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and received a J.D. degree from the University of California at Davis School of Law, serving on the school Law Review. After practicing in a large Los Angeles law firm for three years with an emphasis in civil litigation and employment law, he joined the Riverside County District Attorneys office. His duties included career criminal and homicide prosecutions.  He opened a private criminal law practice in Marin County in 1985. He specialized in criminal law and his practice has included federal crimes and death penalty cases. He holds the highest attorney rating of A.V. in Martindale-Hubbell. He has served as an adjunct professor of law teaching criminal law and procedure at Hastings College of the Law, and has served as faculty member and program chairman of the nationally recognized Hastings College of Trial Advocacy.

In 1996, he joined with an established background and corporate security agency, the Doane Agency, to create a new firm, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) (a division of a California Corporation), dedicated to promoting a safe and profitable workplace for both employers and employees. In 2003, that firm was rated as the top screening firm in the US in the first independent study of the industry in research report prepared by the Intellectual Capital Group, a division of HR.com. 

He is a consultant, writer and frequent presenter nationwide on pre-employment screening and safe hiring issues. His speaking appearances have included numerous national and statewide conferences.  He has qualified and testified in the California. Florida and Arkansas Superior Court as an employment screening expert on issues surrounding safe hiring and due diligence. In 2000, he testified as an expert on background screening on behalf of the plaintiff in a case where the jury awarded 9.3 million dollars to the family of a doctor murdered by a carpet cleaner who was hired without any background investigation.

He is the author of "The Safe Hiring Manual-The Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Imposters, and Terrorists out of the Workplace"  (Facts on Demand Publications).  He is also featured as the narrator in a 23 minute training video by Kantola Productions called "Safe Hiring: How You Can Avoid Bad Hires."  He has also written "The Safe Hiring Audit," and has written and appeared in a training DVD on negligent hiring and has produced the first industry course on background checks (See: http://www.backgroundchecktraining.com/).

Mr. Rosen was the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), a professional trade organization for the screening industry which has nearly 300 members. He was also elected to the first board of directors and served as the co-chairman in 2004.

He has also been active in working on legislation in California. In 2002, he worked with the California legislature to amend AB 655, a law that adversely affected employers in the area of reference checks and hiring in California.  He continues to be involved in working on California legislation effecting employers.  He can be reached at lsr@ESRcheck.com.

JIM CROCKETT, Director of Operations & CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER (CISO)

The tremendous responsibility of operations falls on the very capable shoulders of Jim Crockett, Director of Operations and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of ESR. Jim not only directs the day-to-day operations of ESR, but he also manages the crucial relationships between ESR and our valued clients. Additionally, Jim oversees ESR's nationwide network of court researchers. His efforts provide both the most accurate and cost-effective solutions to our clients needs and bring exceptional value to each client's employment screening objectives.

Jim has a rich history of working within HR and management. Prior to joining ESR, he was with Lawgic.com, a software company that creates employee handbooks, online sexual harassment training courses and other HR related products. Before working with Lawgic.com he served twelve years in management for a large national retailer. In addition to his career in the private sector, Jim served three years in the United States Army as a Communications Specialist. Following an Honorable Discharge, he went on to serve an additional 3 years in the Army Reserve.

JARED CALLAHAN, Director of CLIENT Services

Employment Screening Resources (ESR) is service driven and customer focused. Branding ESR as the nationwide leader of employment screening, through expertise and experience, is the duty of Jared Callahan, Director of Client Services. He brings over ten years of sales experience and a full understanding of the operations behind employment screening to ESR. Each day Jared leads a team that communicates to numerous businesses the value that ESR brings to a company's employment screening initiatives. In addition to answering questions from interested parties and educating prospective clients on legal compliance issues he is also in charge of ESR's marketing efforts, ensuring there is a consistent message in both our print and electronic marketing channels.

Jared began his career in employment screening in 1996 with a private investigative firm. What started as a sales associate position grew into a sales & marketing department which enjoyed profitable growth over several years. During his time at the firm Jared also served as the manager of operations for 1 year. In addition to employment screening he worked in the rental car industry for a number of years and as an investigator in the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of a large workers' compensation insurance company.

THOMAS AHEARN, BACKGROUND SCREENING NEWS BLOG WRITER

An addition to the ESR team in March 2010, Background Screening News Blog Writer Thomas Ahearn updates the Employment Screening Resources news page (ESR NEWS) with vital information about employment screening and background checks for employers, human resources, security, recruiters, and consumers. ESR NEWS covers a variety of topics such as criminal databases, workplace violence, data privacy, negligent hiring, identity theft and fraud, credit reports, legal updates, E-Verify and employment eligibility verification, and the use of social networking sites in employment screening. He also provides Marketing/PR materials such as webinars and white papers. Before joining ESR, Thomas served as Media Relations Advisor for another firm in the screening industry. His education includes a B.S. in Mass Communication/Public Relations and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. For more information about ESR NEWS, or to leave comments, email tahearn@esrcheck.com.

ESR has additional highly trained staff members with expertise in performing pre-employment background screening.

Associated Private Investigators: For special projects, ESR can assist by referring matters to highly qualified licensed private investigators as independent contractors. These include investigators with experience in the FBI, police departments and the CHP.

PLEASE NOTE: ESR does not itself perform, offer or provide any legal or investigative services or advice.

NUMEROUS REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

ESR assists firms all over the United States, including Fortune and Inc. 500 companies, manufacturing firms, service and professional firms, law firms, accounting and finance firms, hospitals and health care, staffing companies, start-up Internet and software companies, high tech companies, wineries, restaurants, and public agencies. ESR is pleased to note that on a number of occasions, well-known firms have surveyed the employment screening industry, comparing numerous firms a part of the selection process, resulting in the selection of ESR as their safe hiring partner.  ESR can assist firms in the selection process by providing an Request for Proposal (RFP) template that encompasses the most critical points in the partner selection process.