Employment Application Embellishment

[Tom]

My son, a senior in college, just accepted a job offer with a large corporation. He told me he was concerned with the employment application he filled out where he embellished his GPA from 3.1 to 3.35. Can they rescind the offer based on this? Do firms even verify GPA (he did sign the general authorization for them to request info from previous employers and educational institutions)? Can he claim a minor error? What should he do? Much appreciated.

 

[lawguy]

generally, few (if any) companies verify an applicant's college info, and at most they'll try to confirm that the person actually attended and graduated from the place. so, the lie probably won't interfere with getting a job (unless they make the unlikely request that your son produce his transcript).

but, if your son is ever involved in a dispute or lawsuit with his employer (even if he's the victim), you can bet that the first thing they'll do is check out every statement in his application. once they discover the lie, they'll be able to claim what's called "after acquired evidence." that is, they'll discover the lie and be able to claim that he committed fraud on the application and that they would have fired him immediately, etc.

in other words, even if nothing bad happens now (the lie is not discovered), it can come back to haunt your son in the event of a problem later on.

honesty is the best policy, what a tangled web we weave... etc.

 

[Tom]

Thank you so much. That was very helpful. One question, though, is that the application had "to the best of my knowledge" clause in the release section. Could he claim that he thought it was higher?

 

[lawguy]

of course; saying "but I told the truth to the exact question you asked" is a defense when you're accused of lieing.

(you may remember clinton made the same point when he noted that the truth of his previous misleading statements depended on "what the definition of 'is' is.")