L. B. Baker v. Burlington Northern

The plaintiff-appellant L. B. Baker brought this action against his former employer, the defendant-respondent Burlington Northern, Inc., alleging libel and invasion of privacy. Baker was provisionally hired by Burlington Northern as a track laborer on March 17, 1973. The employment application, which Baker completed and signed on March 13, 1973, contained the question: Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Baker answered no to this question. On May 5, 1972, Baker had pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree burglary. On that same day, in a document entitled Order Withholding Judgment or Suspending Sentence, the court ordered that Baker be placed on probation and sentence withheld for a period of two years. The order also provided that upon the expiration of the period of suspension of judgment, if all conditions of probation were met, the action would be dismissed. At the time Baker completed and signed Burlington Northern's employment application on March 13, 1973, he was on probation under the order of May 5, 1972.