Cases in Business & SocietyLittle White Lies

By Jessica Pierce

On Friday, Ann and Rosie met for coffee at the Cup O' Joe Cafe. Ann had asked Rosie if she would critique her rsum and personal statement for her MBA applications.

Ann was applying to a couple of top ranked schools and wanted her application

to be as strong as possible. Rosie was a high school English teacher and was used to being

asked to read over her friends' job application letters, rsums, and personal statements

for graduate school applications. She could help make the writing clear and stylish,

and she had an eagle eye for errors, ungainly expressions, and awkward grammatical

constructions. As she read Ann's letter, Rosie felt a swell of admiration for her friend, as well as considerable surprise. Ann was apparently far more modest than Rosie had ever known.

They had done a fair amount of mountain biking together, and all that time Ann had

never confessed that she had been a top ranked professional racer and had been

sponsored by both Cliff Bar and Fox Racing. Nor did Rosie know that Ann was such an

scholar: Ann had graduated summa cum laude from George Washington University

and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She had been class president in college and, on

top of getting good grades, had spent 15 hours a week volunteering at a shelter for

battered women, receiving an honor from the shelter for her commitment.

Rosie had marked a few grammatical corrections and as she handed the draft to

Ann said, "I'm so impressed. I didn't know you had raced." Ann smiled a bit awkwardly and said, "I didn't. I just wanted to have something in there that sounds kind of unique and that makes me look like a go-getter." Rosie was taken aback, but recovered herself and said, "And, well, I didn't realize that you were such a nerd. I'm really impressed." "Thanks," said Ann, giving Rosie a quick glance and then fixing her gaze into her empty coffee cup. Rosie turned her attention to explaining several changes she had made and pointed out a couple of awkward sentences, avoiding any comments about the content of the letter and rsum. She left feeling a bit strange toward Ann, like she didn't know her as well as she thought. For some reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on, she felt resentful toward Ann, like Ann had taken advantage of her in some way.

1. Do you think there is anything wrong with or illegal about what Ann did with her resume? Why/why not?

2. As a manager, would you fire Ann? Why/why not? Be sure to comment on the legal exposure, risk, consequences of hiring and continuing to employ an individual who has false or exaggerated information on his her resume/application.

3. Say you don't fire Ann after learning of the false information, but you do make it clear to her that you don't trust her. You have someone check all of her reports and begin checking with customers to make sure Ann provides them with correct information. You do not treat others this way, but of course they didn't "lie" on their resumes. If Ann quits, would she have a claim for constructive discharge? Why/why not?

4. Say you do terminate Ann. What would she need to prove to have a claim for wrongful discharge?

5. Several months after Ann leaves (on her own or your terminating her) a new/potential employer calls for an employment. You tell them "Ann's a liar" and give them details about the false information/embellishments on her resume/application. Would Ann have a good claim of defamation against you/the company? Why or why not?