Lying on the Application Form - Is this a terminable offense?

gdubsky · June 2002

We have hired a Director who claimed to have an MBA degree. Background results received several weeks after her hire showed no MBA degree. She claims it was a certificate equivalent to an MBA - an accelerated 11 week Management Development Program. Her resume said, it was a Business Administration Certificate equivalent to an MBA. However, in her application form she claimed it was an MBA degree. Should we terminate her for misleading us? What are the consequences of terminating her or not terminating her? Do you have any policies on people lying on their application forms that you can share with me?

bsa · June 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-04-02 AT 04:17PM (CST)[/font][p]Does your application have a disclaimer statement that includes providing false and misleading information on the application? Even without that, I believe you could terminate if you have a 90-day introductory period. But, before you hail a taxi, check for discrimination roadblocks.

Whoops!! I just noticed that you are in sunny California. Does a state law cover the subject?

gdubsky · June 2002

Thanks for your thought! The application does state that any ommission or misstatement of material fact shall be grounds for rejection or immediate discharge regardless of the time elapsed before discovery. The California law books state that as long as it is on the application form, it would be difficult for the individual to sue us unless any kind of discrimination happened.

dhnyct · June 2002

This is not an opinion...Just curious since it sounds like the background check was initiated after she started work.

The resume seems to have been fairly accurate. If the position truly demands an MBA, it seems the discrepancy would have been questioned during the initial hiring phase. Has the person been on board long enough to evaluate effective performance?

Gillian · June 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-05-02 AT 09:56AM (CST)[/font][p]This is a "it depends" situation and no, we in sunny California do not have to comply with a regulation that permits people to lie on their resume. On the face of it, based on your application that states falsification is grounds for termination and the fact that your employee is a short term one, you could terminate the person. Here is where you may have some difficulty - is this education really equivalent to an MBA and is it somehow recognized in the marketplace as equivalent to an MBA. A couple of years ago I served as an expert witness on behalf of a plaintiff and one of the issues was alleged falsified education credentials. Her certificate was sponsored jointly by an industry group and a major university and was quite extensive. The curriculum was clearly post graduate since one had to have an undergraduate degree to participate. The plaintiff claimed it as formal post graduate education. The company decided, incorrectly in my opinion, that it did not reach that level since it was called a certificate and claimed falsification on her part. I think that the company was grasping at straws since they really screwed up in other respects. The plaintiff prevailed.

You should make sure that you are dealing with an integrity issue and not just a "making oneself look as good as possible" on a resume, which we all know is part of writing a good resume. If you think that it is an integrity issue you don't want a Director who lacks ethics.

WOCO Frank · June 2002

>no, we in sunny California do not have to comply with a regulation that permits people to lie on their resume.

Yeah, that statute probably won't be introduced until next year.

Gillian · June 2002

We have some unique situations alright, but I don't think the legislature will suggest honesty challenged people as a protected class!

wbeteet · June 2002

I agree with Gillian, you need to be careful. But I think it goes further than that. It seems to me you also have the problem of whether she lied or mislead you at all. She said in her resume exactly what she was referring to as an MBA. It does not appear that she was hiding anything. When she put MBA on your application I would say that it was in the context of what she had on her resume which you had already seen. No jury in the world, much less California, is going to believe that she was intending to lie to you on her application. And you will have to show she intended to lie or mislead you. The most they will believe is that she should have been as complete on the application as she was in her resume. I'm not sure you want to terminate because I don't think this person was trying to deceive you which is to whole point. If you do you will loose a good employee, buy yourself a lawsuit for not only unlawful termination but for liable and you will have to go out and fill the position again. Hope this helps.
Bill

Hatchetman · June 2002

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-05-02 AT 01:05PM (CST)[/font][p]I agree with Gillian regarding the equivalency issue.

What "standard" for educational degrees do you require? Does the degree have to be from an accredited college or university? If so, was the certificate from an accredited institution? And is the certificate really equivalent to an MBA? Has one any actually looked at the course work to stay that the certificate does equate to the MBA? Have you asked the institution? Get the course work and have it evaluated by a college with an MBA program.

That may be the best way of handling it and avoid the problem of trying to determine whether or not she falsified her application. Regarding the falsification issue, a lot depends on exactly what she wrote on the application form itself and the explanation for what she did to establish whether it was falsification or just expediency. Also how she represents the certificate generally is important: does she claim it is an MBA in other situations or
does she "beg off?"

B_Jackson · June 2002

I too agree with Gillian, and it is easy to complete a transcript analysis regarding equivalencies. Also it is necessary to detrmine if the Credit course of an MBA degree is what is actually necessary to perform the duties of the osition, or does an equivalency do the trick. It is better to investigate these areas then to immediately think falsification of the application.

njjel · June 2002

If the person's performance is meeting your expectations,why would you want to let her go? She DID advise you of the correctness of her certificate in her resume and was not hiding the fact that she did not have a full MBA. If there were any error made here I would look to the fact that her education background check was not performed prior to making her the offer.

Lying on the Application Form - Is this a terminable offense?

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