Tateasa Adams was merely trying to secure employment at Six Flags Over Georgia, but the amusement park took her background check way further than any one of us could imagine!
As she arrived for what she THOUGHT was a follow up interview at the Six Flags Over Georgia employment office, Adams was arrested and transported to Cobb County jail.
Her crime?? Unemployment… 😯
Her arrest was coordinated entirely by Six Flags Over Georgia and any of you applying for jobs this Summer better make dayum sure you don’t have any issues on your record before you submit your application!
The Atlanta amusement park cleverly duped the unemployed job seeker into coming in for what appears to have been a fake job interview after she failed their criminal background check.
According to the AJC, Tateasa applied for a job as a performer in two musical revues and had been offered a position. She said the Austell amusement park’s loss prevention department contacted her following a background check inquiring about a few traffic misdemeanors and she’d explained the situation.
Adams thought she was returning to Six Flags Over Georgia for a follow-up interview.
Little did she know that the follow up interview was merely a crude “sting operation” coordinated by the funpark to have her arrested. Her “follow up interview” ended with her in handcuffs, arrested on an outstanding warrant for missing a court date for two misdemeanor traffic violations in Gwinnett County.
I have never been so humiliated in my life, all because I wanted a job,” Adams, 37, said in a phone interview with the AJC.
So the “sting” went like this…
Six Flags sent Adams an email confirming her appointment on Feb. 29 for a “pre-appointment screen.” She was instructed to return to the park “dressed in business attire — this is an interview.”
Adams was also told to bring a valid photo identification.
“I arrived early,” she said. “When I got there they sat me down in a room with a video camera, took my license, and had me fill out another application.”
While the job hopeful was doing what she was asked, park officials were in another room on the phone with Cobb County authorities verifying her identity.
Within 45 minutes of her “interview” she was arrested her in the loss prevention office.
In a statement issued to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Six Flags says:
As part of our standard hiring procedure, all potential employees over the age of 18 must undergo a criminal history background check.
In this particular instance, a warrant was discovered. Per our guidelines, Cobb County Police were notified and an arrest was made.
Now I don’ t know about you, but I’ve never heard of a potential employee having you locked up for missed court dates. That is… unless you’re applying for a job with the courts (or law enforcement).
Labor and employment attorney Ed Buckley said while it’s not unusual for businesses to notify law enforcement of a scofflaw, he’s never heard of one actually facilitating an arrest.
“It seems to me a dangerous practice to engineer someone’s arrest,” Buckley told the AJC. “They run the risk of creating unnecessary claims for themselves. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Even Cobb County police admit that the arrest was unusual for the department. “We try to keep businesses out of the loop any way we can,” said a spokesperson.
After her arrest, Adams was issued citations for driving without insurance and an expired tag, charges she received in 2010. She posted $1,845 bond and was released.
This could have been you….