Guilty Until Proven Innocent

In 1996, Tacoma, Washington, police arrested David Andrews for felony drug possession. Four months later, a judge tossed out the charge, citing insufficient evidence. In 2007, the state hired him as a network technician in its Department of Information. Three months after that, his supervisors fired him after a background check revealed the 1996 arrest. Under state rules, if he'd actually gone to trial on the drug charge and been acquitted, he could have kept his job. But since the charge was dismissed, he could not. Andrews sued the agency but lost, and rather than appeal the decision, he accepted a settlement.