Firing of Food Network host illustrates resume fraud

Cleveland restaurateur and Iron Chef Michael Symon is set to take over as the new host of the Food Network's Dinner: Impossible series this fall. Great news for Chef Symon and Cleveland in general, but what does this have to do with employment law? According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Food Network fired the show's prior host for resume fraud:

Symon is stepping in at "Dinner: Impossible" after the St. Petersburg Times revealed in early February that original host Robert Irvine exaggerated a wee bit on his resume. Like that bit about cooking for England's royal family. And being a White House chef, among other things.

Resume fraud is a big problem for employers that largely goes undetected. Some surveys show that perhaps as many as 30-40% of resumes contain intentional inaccuracies, such as lies and exaggeration about education, prior jobs, experience, and qualifications. The issues for businesses are two-fold:

1. How does one guard against hiring a candidate with exaggerated or flat-out false credentials?
2. What does one do upon finding out that an employee lied to get the job?

1. Background checks
The best way to guard against resume fraud is to thoroughly screen all job candidates' credentials. Myriad companies offer services for checking the veracity of job applicants' background information. Do your homework, though, as some companies are much better than others. Also, check with your attorney, because the Fair Credit Reporting Act has certain mandatory notice and consent requirements that could subject you to unnecessary liability if they are not followed.
Reference checks should also be part of any screening process. Ohio business should not fear accurately responding to inquiries from other business about past employees. Ohio has a statute, R.C. 4113.71, that gives employers a qualified immunity to provide job reference information. An employer can give a prospective employer information about an employee's job performance without fear of liability, unless the former employer knows the information is false, or makes the disclosure with the intent to mislead, in bad faith, or with a malicious purpose. The statute also has an exception for violations of the employment discrimination laws, so, for example, you can't give good references to white employees and bad references to black employees and safely hide behind 4113.71.
2. Post-hiring detection
What happens, however, if you find out that an employee lied about his or her background after that employee has already started working? Viewing this situation as "no harm, no foul" (i.e, the employee is doing a good job, so I'll overlook the resume fraud) is short-sighted. Unless a company consistently terminates employees who have been found to have lied or embellished their credentials, it likely risks a discrimination claim if and when it chooses to fire an employee within a protected class for resume fraud.
Also, a failure to consistently enforce a policy against resume fraud will limit a business's ability to use an after-acquired evidence defense. Often times, resume fraud is not uncovered until after a terminated employee sues the company and the employee's background is dissected during the discovery process. The after-acquired evidence defense permits an employer to cut-off its liability for back pay to a terminated employee at the point in time it would have fired the employee based on something learned after the employee was terminated. Thus, if it is uncovered during litigation that an employee lied about his or her background, the after-acquired evidence defense allows for the termination of back pay liability as of the date of that discovery. Unless, however, a company has a consistent policy of terminating those who lie on their resumes, it will have an uphill battle convincing a court that it would have terminated this plaintiff upon the discovery.
As with most issues in employment relations, it is best to temper expectations. Employment applications should contain clear disclosures that the employee signs off on, which states the all of the information is true and accurate to the best of the employee's ability, and that false information will disqualify the candidate from employment and subject the employee to termination. Employee handbooks should contain similar language that resume fraud discovered during employment is grounds for immediate termination. Of course, policies are only as good as their consistent enforcement.