EmployeeScreenIQ Blog

Last year, we posted a story about a man, Adam Wheeler, who faked his way in to Harvard University by falsifying his student application.  He claimed that he had attended an exclusive prep school in Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  Harvard actually admitted him and was publicly embarrassed when the truth came out.

Wheeler was charged criminally in the matter, convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison and 10 years of probation.  He served 1 month prior to his trial and was released thereafter.

Well, according to CBSNews Wheeler is back at it again.  This time, he is looking for a job and indicated on his resume that he graduated from Harvard.  This was a violation of the terms of his probation and he’s now back in the slammer.

I know I’m not supposed to have a sense of humor about these things, but this is funny.  The truth is, if Wheeler was smart enough to fake his way into Harvard, conceivably, he might have been smart enough to get in on his own merits. I guess he didn’t take the school’s motto, Veritas (which means truth) very seriously.

Now back to serious.  Make sure you conduct education verifications and employment verifications before you hire someone.  People lie.  It happens all the time.  Performing these searches is your greatest tool for highlighting resume lies.

Check out Wheeler’s story below.

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Employers beware.  The Iceman cometh. Last week the Obama administration announced that it would audit another 1,000 employers throughout the United States to determine if they are have illegal workers on their payrolls.

The Wall Street Journal reports that this wave of ICE audits now brings this fiscal year’s total to 2,388 (beginning Oct. 1) which has already eclipsed last year’s total of 2,196.

The Journal warns, “For employers, the audits can lead to both civil and criminal penalties. The possibilities range from fines and being barred from competing for government contracts to criminal charges of knowingly employing illegal workers, evading taxes and engaging in identity theft.”

See WSJ Article

The best way for an employer to stay in compliance with federal regulations is to be vigilant in their I-9 practices. Every employee must have an I-9 form on file.

Many employers are moving towards the use of the government’s E-Verify system or other third party systems which allow for the complete electronic automation of the I-9 process; preparing and signing the form, submitting the form to the Social Security Administration, and auto archiving.

Everyone get the image of Top Gun’s Iceman, Val Kilmer?

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A former NASDAQ employee, Donald Johnson recently pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of over $750,000.  In this day and age, that amount is child’s play compared to some of the high profile fraud cases we’ve seen over the last couple years, but that’s really here nor there.  The thing that has left one Forbes blogger scratching her head is that this crime was totally avoidable.

All NASDAQ had to do was to conduct a thorough background check and they would have known that Johnson’s past would have provided a clear snapshot of what his future tenure with the company might hold.

According to Joelle Scott, “Nasdaq hired Johnson in 1989.  Three years prior, the Virginia Board of Nursing commenced an investigation into Johnson.  He had been working at Fairfax Hospital and, as a result of the investigation, according to the records from this department, Johnson admitted he had not only consumed Schedule II drugs while on duty as a nurse but also falsified hospital records in order to steal these drugs from the hospital.  Johnson was discharged from the U.S. Army Reserves where he was a captain and served as a nurse.”

Surely, a Professional License Verification with the Virginia Board of Nursing would have revealed information that would have raised red flags about Johnson.

NASDAQ claims to have conducted a background check on Johnson at the time of his hire, to which Scott reserves comments which should be shared over and over again with the myriad politicians and government agencies who seek to limit or ban the use of these vitally important employment screening practices.

“As we have explained to clients (both potential and existing) for over 20 years, comprehensive background checks are designed to uncover this sort of information to protect investors, board members, corporations and others.  Contacting licensing departments and appropriate regulatory bodies is an essential component of background checks.  This includes not only identifying any sanctions or disciplinary actions filed by the major regulatory agencies (SEC, FINRA, etc.) but also independently reaching out to government bodies that oversee the professions in which an individual has been involved from OSHA to the Departments of Nursing. These agencies provide critical information about an individual.

Johnson is one of many.  We have seen numerous people lie about degrees received from Ivy League schools and certifications received (yes, people still lie about this stuff!) and, like Johnson, people who voluntarily do not disclose their troubled pasts hoping no one will check.”

Click here for more information about what employers in the financial services industry should consider when screening potential candidates.

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Somebody didn’t do their homework…

A London man was able to gain employment as the Deputy CEO of a Middle Eastern bank after a headhunting firm located his fictitious resume online.  His resume claimed degrees from both Harvard and Oxford as well as long term employment at one of the world’s top financial institutions – J.P. Morgan.  The headhunters forwarded the resume to their client who promptly interviewed and hired the fraudster.  It was only after they had flown him to the Middle East to meet their wealthiest clients that they discovered his lies.

A few simple inquiries into this person’s past prior to a job offer would have saved this bank a little bit of money and a lot of embarrassment.

Fraudster conned his way to top bank job

A conman used a fake CV to trick his way into becoming the £165,000-a-year deputy chief executive of a City investment bank, a court heard.

By Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent – London Evening Standard – 1/31/2011

Peter Gwinnell, 49, posted a résumé online which claimed he had degrees from Oxford and Harvard and had worked for JP Morgan for 20 years.

The fake was enough to convince City headhunters Connaught Partners to put him in touch with Ahli United Bank, which was looking for a new deputy chief executive, in the autumn of 2009. Gwinnell played the role of senior banker so well that after two interviews he was appointed to the job.

He worked for a month, flying out to the Middle East several times to meet wealthy clients and collecting £14,500 in salary. It was only when Ahli ran extra checks that it realised Gwinnell’s story was a lie.

In reality he was a convicted conman who had served six months in prison in the Nineties and had not attended either university, or worked at JP Morgan. Gwinnell, of Harrow, admitted a single count of fraud and was handed a 50-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, at Southwark crown court. Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC spared him an immediate jail term after hearing he had already spent 12 weeks in custody on remand, and was suffering from serious depression.

The judge instead ordered Gwinnell to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, 18 months of supervision with a probation officer and to continue to undergo treatment for his depression.

He also banned him from uploading a CV onto the internet without the court’s permission. Sentencing, he told Gwinnell: “Somehow or other you managed to convince Connaught Partners that you were a suitable candidate for employment by the bank.

“This offence was deliberately planned, and it caused loss, but also no doubt much trouble and aggravation, and quite obviously embarrassment to the bank who determined that you were suitable for employment.”

The court heard that even after Gwinnell was questioned by police, he sent a fraudulent CV to a Swiss bank before withdrawing the job application.

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A Jet Blue flight attendant quit his job in a very interesting way on Monday.  I’ll refrain from paraphrasing because I believe this article does it enough justice.  Should any future employer  conduct an employment verification with Jet Blue, he can pretty much bank on not receiving a good reference.  Not to mention he may also have to explain a stint in prison.  Best of luck buddy!

Cursing, beer and a popped chute as flight attendant quits

New York (CNN) — Call them the not-so-friendly skies.

A flight attendant cursed out passengers, grabbed a beer then triggered an emergency chute Monday at a JFK Airport terminal, authorities say.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said it “appears” Steven Slater was quitting.

“It’s a strange way to quit, let’s put it that way,” he said. “I don’t think he’ll be able to come back.”

Police arrested Slater for allegedly triggering the emergency escape chute, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said.

Slater was arrested at his home and charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, said Helen Peterson at the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

The incident took place just after the Jet Blue flight landed when a passenger stood to remove a bag from the overhead bin while the plane was still taxiing, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge said. A flight attendant exchanged words with the passenger, and the conversation escalated.

Slater picked up the intercom and used expletives directed at the passengers, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. It is not clear exactly what was said on the intercom. The source said that when the plane at stopped at the gate, Slater then grabbed some beer from the beverage cart before deploying the emergency slide and using it to leave the plane.

More

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By now everyone knows that Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Mark Hurd has resigned from his post after an internal company investigation revealed that he mislead the company about expenses he submitted for contract work that was never performed.  It gets more scandalous though.  The expenses were paid to a marketing consultant that recently settled a sexual harassment claim against Hurd.

So in the aftermath, will this series of events limit his future employment prospects?  What would an employment background check reveal?  Would HP reveal Mr. Hurd’s reason for departure if ever contacted for an employment verification?  I’m thinking they wouldn’t get into the details. After all, there was no criminal conviction for the misreporting of expenses and HP’s investigation of sexual harassment concluded that the allegations were unfounded.  Now, of course most prospective employers will know about Mr. Hurd’s exploits because the media has reported on them ad nauseum.  However, I question whether that will dim his ability to find a similar position elsewhere.

However, let’s say that Mr. Hurd was not the head of a major public organization.  Would an employer reveal such information on a rank and file employee? What do you think?

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The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, signed into law on December 20, 2006 by President George W. Bush, makes it illegal to falsely claim to be a recipient of military awards and medals handed out by Congress to military personnel.  A little over three years later, the constitutionality of this Act was challenged. 

Rick Strandlof, a Colorado man accused of posing as a Marine Captain and claimed to have received a Silver Star and Purple Heart during the Iraq War, argued that prosecution under the Stolen Valor Act violated his First Amendment right to free speech.  A district court judge agreed.

This isn’t the last we’ve heard on this issue as I’m sure the government is gearing up for an appeal.  However, it is important to point out that any claims of military honors can be verified by employers by requesting a copy of an applicant’s military records, commonly known as the DD Form 214.

Judge Says Constitution Protects Right to Lie About Purple Heart

By David Kravets,  Wired.com – July 19, 2010

A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a little-known law making it a crime to falsely claim to have been awarded a military medal.

A Colorado man who was never in the military was arrested for falsely claiming to have won the Purple Heart and other medals as a Marine in Iraq. He challenged the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which provides penalties up to a year in prison, on grounds it breached the First Amendment.

In the first ruling declaring the measure unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn agreed with defendant Rick Strandlof’s contention. The judge said the government’s defense of the act was “troubling” as well as “contrary, on multiple fronts, to well-established First Amendment doctrine” (.pdf). The Purple Heart is awarded to military personnel wounded or killed in “any action against an enemy of the United States.”

Dozens of defendants have been charged under the statute. The San Francisco–based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is weighing the statute’s constitutionality in a case brought by a man sentenced to 400 hours of community service and fined $5,000.

The government, which is mulling an appeal, argued that the law should be upheld.

“By allowing anyone to claim to possess such decorations, could impact the motivation of soldiers to engage in valorous, and extremely dangerous, behavior on the battlefield,” the government wrote.

Judge Blackburn was not buying it.

“This wholly unsubstantiated assertion is, frankly, shocking, and indeed, unintentionally insulting to the profound sacrifices of military personnel the Stolen Valor Act purports to honor,” the judge ruled. “To suggest that the battlefield heroism of our servicemen and women is motivated in any way, let alone in a compelling way, by considerations of whether a medal may be awarded simply defies my comprehension.”

Strandlof told CNN last year that he lied about his record because, among other things, of a “severely underdiagnosed mental illness.”

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I typically don’t comment on content I read in online forums, but I saw this post on WallStreetOasis.com about a recent college grad who has accepted a position with Goldman Sachs, but must first submit to an employment background check before it’s official.  Unfortunately, he/she now realized that they inadvertently lied on their resume and is trying to decide whether to come clean prior to the background check. See below.

I’m so worried about it and haven’t been able to sleep well…

Here’s my advice.  Whether Goldman Sachs actually checks this information or not (and I’m quite certain they do) is immaterial.  This oversight on your resume is simply that until you realize it is false.  My recommendation would be to come clean and let them know the truth.  This is nothing more than a technicality and can be explained by addressing it ahead of time.  If they conduct the background check and find out otherwise, your oversight becomes a lie.  And even if that particular distinction would have no bearing on your employment prospects, the lie speaks volumes.

Just my two cents.

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Greenberg Traurig labor and employment attorney, Dan Pasterternak just posted a story about an employer who lost a multimillion dollar judgement over a negative job reference/employment verification which deviated from company policy.  See Dan’s post below which includes his advice for providing employment verifications.

Like most employers, Credit Agricole’s policy is only to confirm dates of employment in response to a request for employment verification, without providing any information about a former employee’s job performance. But that didn’t happen to William Raedle.

Instead, according to court testimony reported in the press,his former supervisor told a prospective boss at Dreyfus Corp. that William had difficulty working with others and had mental issues. Raedle didn’t get the job at Dreyfus. What he did get, however, was a big verdict in his favor against Credit Agricole. After a weeklong trial, a jury in a New York federal court deliberated only five hours to award Raedle $2.4 million in lost earnings, damage to his reputation, and punitive damages, including $200,000 in punitive damages against his former supervisor for interfering with his efforts to get a job at Dreyfus.  (The trial judge vacated the punitive damage awards on the defendants’ post-trial motions, reducing the judgment amount to just over $1.6 million.)

What does this case tell us?

It’s not just what your policy says on paper, but what actually happens that really matters. No policy – whether it’s an employment reference policy, an anti-discrimination or anti-harassment policy, a leave policy, etc. – will amount to a hill of beans if you aren’t following it. The key is making sure that all employees are trained, and, if appropriate, periodically retrained, to comply with company policy. As the case shows, the consequences of failing to actually do what your policy says can be enormous.

The moral of the story is not to stop performing employment verifications.  In fact, we seen and written about instances where an employer failed to provide adverse information and was later successfully sued for not warning the prospective employer, Employment Verifications: Less May No Longer Be More.  Employers must be consistent and must reinforce company policies again and again.

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Did you know that EmployeeScreenIQ finds a 52% discrepancy rate between what an applicant claims about their education and work experience and what we find when we verify such information?  Check out this sage advice from John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., on resume fraud:

“As millions of Americans struggle with long-term unemployment, the temptation to stretch the truth on one’s résumé to gain a competitive advantage is becoming harder to resist. Some desperate job seekers are going so far as to establish fake references. However, the payoff may not be worth the risk, according to one employment authority.

There is very little proof that any form of résumé boosting directly results in a job interview, much less a job offer. In contrast, there are scores of examples of individuals who have been eliminated from candidacy or fired after a fraudulent résumé was uncovered.”

John offers the following advice to job seekers:

* The Short Chronological Résumé

A short chronological résumé summarizes the last 10 years of your career in reverse, briefly listing your accomplishments from the most recent to the much older.

* The Long Chronological Résumé

Use the long chronological résumé when you meet with the hiring decision maker. Its goal is to distinguish you from other contenders whose backgrounds resemble yours; therefore, focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities. This is your chance to provide a comprehensive summary of your career accomplishments.

* The Functional Résumé

A functional résumé stresses abilities such as purchasing, marketing, selling, managing or analyzing. Résumés organized by function, rather than chronology, give you an opportunity to gloss over a gap in job history or frequent job hopping. If you have many skills, this kind of résumé can market you as a sort of utility infielder who can perform well in several functions.

* Use Relevant Key Words

Increasing numbers of search firms, executive recruiters, and personnel managers initially use computer software to scan résumés for history, education, location, and so forth. Once scanned, résumés can be sorted by these key words to produce a customized list of professionals in a certain field. By including the right key words in your short chronological résumé, you can increase the chances that it will pass the screening process.

* Avoid Flash Or Gimmick

Think about the position for which you are applying. Bright florescent paper, glitter, perfume or different colored fonts seem unprofessional. Thinking outside the box is always welcome, but using gaudy tricks to catch the hiring manager’s eye will most likely irritate instead of dazzle.

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