There are many penalties associated with a domestic violence charge such as jail time, fines and a no-contact order. But one of the biggest penalties may be the stigma that a conviction carries with it. Anyone who is convicted of a crime that involves a domestic violence charge will have that added to their criminal record. This record is often checked by employers, landlords and schools when they are reviewing applications. In some circumstances, the presence of a DV conviction can result in a denial.

An example of this recently occurred in San Francisco where the CEO of a tech company was terminated due to the fact that the company discovered that he was convicted of domestic violence. According to The Wall Street Journal Online, Gurbaksh Chahal was serving as the Chairman and CEO of an advertising tech company, RadiumOne, in which he had invested $20,000. He was also involved in a court case and recently pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of battery and domestic violence battery from a case involving a fight with his girlfriend in 2013.

When the Board of Directors of the tech startup became aware of Chahal's conviction, they met and decided that he should be let go. Chalal is a successful entrepreneur who had previously founded and sold 2 internet companies. He maintains that he was innocent and only accepted the misdemeanor charges in order to move on with his life and to please the company's Board of Directors. According to the article, Chahal:

[D]escribed the incident as a “normal argument” and said it had been “overblown and grossly exaggerated.”

A domestic violence offense is very serious and a conviction can negatively affect your career. If you have been arrested for domestic violence in Seattle, it is vital that you call an experienced defense lawyer right away to help you fight your charges.