Armitage & Associates:  Case Studies

CASE STUDY:  Pre-Employment/Due Diligence

Pre-employment investigations are an essential tool in evaluating candidates for management and high-profile positions.  As a result of utilizing pre-employment investigations, corporations and government agencies are making more informed and successful hiring decisions.  These investigations also help to avoid negligent hiring claims.

A Milwaukee business, interested in hiring a new chief financial officer, contacted Armitage & Associates to run a pre-employment background investigation on a job candidate.  Research conducted showed the applicant previously lived in California – a fact she neglected to tell the client.  Researching California records revealed that her professional license as a certified public accountant had been revoked due to improprieties.  Armitage & Associates successfully provided the information necessary for the client to make a more informed decision in its hiring process. 

In another case, a client requested a due diligence on a subject being considered as a business partner.  The subject had claimed he sold his highly profitable business for a large sum.  The investigation revealed that his business was not successful; in fact, the subject had filed for bankruptcy.  The bankruptcy documents Armitage & Associates obtained revealed the truth concerning his income and debts.  Interviews with former business associates indicated dubious business practices and a long trail of fraud and victims.  Armitage & Associates’ investigative work saved the client from making a major mistake in its search for an honest and financially stable business partner. 

CASE STUDY:  Internal Theft

A law firm representing an assisted living care facility contacted Armitage & Associates because a resident at the facility reported unauthorized charges on several of her credit cards.

During the interview with the resident, Armitage & Associates learned that the resident had hired one of the employees to provide extra services, i.e., pet care, while she was on vacation.  After speaking with several employees, interesting information about the suspect developed.  In addition, Armitage & Associates was able to locate and interview several of her school friends and her boyfriend.  The boyfriend, eager to avoid culpability, blamed the theft squarely on the suspect, and provided details of exactly how and when the theft occurred. 

Armitage & Associates used details about the theft when interviewing the suspect.  She quickly confessed to hosting parties with school friends in the resident’s apartment, using the resident’s vehicle without permission, and allowing friends to steal cash and credit cards from the resident’s desk.  The confession led to the employee’s termination.

CASE STUDY:  Product Liability

A major law firm hired Armitage & Associates to conduct a product liability investigation.  The firm represented a manufacturer who was a defendant in an asbestos case.  The primary task was to locate and interview co-workers of the plaintiff and obtain additional background on the plaintiff’s exposure to asbestos.

The client had the names of several co-workers, which were provided by the plaintiff in a deposition.  However, the plaintiff had no contact information; and the relevant time period was 1960-1979.

Through extensive use of proprietary databases, public records, library archives, and neighborhood canvases, Armitage & Associates successfully located and interviewed a number of the plaintiff’s former co-workers.

Interviews with the co-workers showed that the plaintiff had been exposed to other unrelated sources of asbestos and cancer-causing agents.  The plaintiff had also been a heavy smoker and only filed the lawsuit after learning he had lung cancer.

Armitage & Associates also ascertained that the retail outlets where the plaintiff claimed he purchased the defendant's products were either out of business during the relevant timeframe or did not carry the defendant's product during the time in question.

This information, along with affidavits that Armitage & Associates obtained from co-workers, was instrumental in settling the case to the benefit of the client.