Fake Credentials Sink Job
In March 2023 Caleb was looking for work.
He saw an online posting for the position of vice-president of business development. It was with a fabrication and grating company which provided metal screens and grating products to industrial and commercial customers.
He sent in a cover letter and his resume. A recruiter contacted Caleb and conducted a preliminary interview. A few weeks later, Caleb met with the president and was asked to do an online personality assessment. At the third interview Caleb met with the president, the vice-president of operations and the chief executive officer. He then completed another online personality assessment.
Happily, all of this resulted in an offer and by the end of May, Caleb was in the job.
Over the following months Caleb was asked to lead a price-forecasting project and he prepared a number of spreadsheets. Apparently the president was not impressed and asked Caleb about his skill set in statistics and using Excel spreadsheets. Over the following months, the president’s impression of Caleb’s skill set did not improve and he was asked two more times about his experience and educational background. His answers were vague. About seven months after he was hired, Caleb was fired. He was offered no severance. The employer took the position there was just cause for his termination.
The job posting that Caleb had responded to said that a degree in business administration was required and that ideally an applicant would also possess a master’s degree in business administration (MBA).
In his resume, Caleb had indicated his MBA studies were ongoing and that he expected to complete the degree in the fall of that year. As the president’s suspicions about Caleb’s education increased, he began to ask him about what courses he was taking for his program. Again, Caleb’s responses were vague. He said he was getting the MBA from McGill University.
It turns out that Caleb was not registered for any MBA courses anywhere when he sent in his resume. At trial, he claimed that he wrote that as he expected to be enrolled soon, although how he could complete by the fall, I don’t know.
At trial Caleb argued that it was just an error in judgment and that he was doing a good job. The employer was just using it as an excuse to get rid of him with no severance.
The judge at trial noted that people employed in an executive position are expected to exhibit trustworthiness and honesty. Caleb’s misrepresentation of his educational qualifications, along with his obfuscation when he was asked about his educational background by the president, were held by the judge to be sufficiently serious that it struck at the heart of the employment relationship. Caleb lost his case. Caleb’s misrepresentation was material in that it went to the heart of the skills he needed to succeed in the position.
Not all misrepresentations on a resume will constitute just cause for a dismissal. There have been cases where a prospective candidate has exaggerated how much they were making at their old job and it had later been discovered. When the employer fired them, it was held by the court to be mere “puffery” and not really important within the context of the entire relationship.
In another case, a woman had let a professional designation she had held lapse, but misrepresented that fact on her job application. Given that she actually had the experience and skills, it was not held to be just cause for her termination without notice.
There is probably not a resume that has ever been submitted that did not portray previous experience and responsibilities as more glamorous and impressive than they actually were. There is always a bit of puffery.
The danger for those who push exaggeration too far is that they are leaving themselves vulnerable indefinitely. At any moment their misrepresentation could be discovered and the axe could fall. Personally, I would not be able to take the stress.
This article was originally published by The Hamilton Spectator.
