Sacked for lying about work history

[apron]

You lie about your work history to get a job. You do the job well and this is acknowledged by your employer. But they find out that you lied and not only sack you but they say they are considering suing you for the cost of recruiting a new employee.

If you did not lie about qualifications and the job was not something that could put other people at risk then I see that they may still dismiss. However, if you were doing the job well and they were happy with your work until they found out about your false work history can they genuinely sue you? They could have kept you on and let you keep doing the job but they chose not to do so and therefore partially brought these costs upon themselves. Has anyone ever heard of a case where an employer has sued an employee for lying about their work history? Again, I am not talking about people who have falsely claimed to have qualifications that they did not have. That is a different gravy.

[apron]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

Bumpity Bump

[charitynjw]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

You lie about your work history to get a job. You do the job well and this is acknowledged by your employer. But they find out that you lied and not only sack you but they say they are considering suing you for the cost of recruiting a new employee.

If you did not lie about qualifications and the job was not something that could put other people at risk then I see that they may still dismiss. However, if you were doing the job well and they were happy with your work until they found out about your false work history can they genuinely sue you? They could have kept you on and let you keep doing the job but they chose not to do so and therefore partially brought these costs upon themselves. Has anyone ever heard of a case where an employer has sued an employee for lying about their work history? Again, I am not talking about people who have falsely claimed to have qualifications that they did not have. That is a different gravy.

Hi apron

I see you tend to post in the wee hours - perhaps not the best time to get noticed. (There aren't many folk about at this hour; just me & the bats & night owls, lol)

I have seen a recent case where someone, when interviewed & accepted for a job, remained silent about an accusation she made against a former employer (Discrimination of some type, I believe), & was subsequently sacked from the new job.
She won her case, but imho it would be 'distinguished' from yours, as you have told an untruth to secure the job, thereby breaching the duty of trust which will be part of an employment contract (whether expressed or implied in the contract).

But I'm no expert, so................... @mariefab ?

[mariefab]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

I caught your other similar post before it vanished.
It's a fair reason for dismissal. Usually called a fundamental breach of the trust and confidence that should exist between employer and employee.
However, I think that it's very unlikely indeed that they'll sue you for this.
As Charity said the caselaw in this area involves high-flyers. Otherwise it's really not worth the costs and time involved.

[charitynjw]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

I caught your other similar post before it vanished.
It's a fair reason for dismissal. Usually called a fundamental breach of the trust and confidence that should exist between employer and employee.
However, I think that it's very unlikely indeed that they'll sue you for this.
As Charity said the caselaw in this area involves high-flyers. Otherwise it's really not worth the costs and time involved.

Thanks for that quick response, mariefab.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

You lie about your work history to get a job. You do the job well and this is acknowledged by your employer. But they find out that you lied and not only sack you but they say they are considering suing you for the cost of recruiting a new employee.

If you did not lie about qualifications and the job was not something that could put other people at risk then I see that they may still dismiss. However, if you were doing the job well and they were happy with your work until they found out about your false work history can they genuinely sue you? They could have kept you on and let you keep doing the job but they chose not to do so and therefore partially brought these costs upon themselves. Has anyone ever heard of a case where an employer has sued an employee for lying about their work history? Again, I am not talking about people who have falsely claimed to have qualifications that they did not have. That is a different gravy.

Well, did you expressly lie or did you speak broad truths, or largely omit certain details, ie withhold information when asked: pre job application; pre-interview; during interview? Present the facts as concisely as you can.

[apron]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

Sure, basically I have a long history of mental health problems, nothing psychotic, just bipolar/anxiety. This has meant that I literally have years of employment gaps. If I mention this as the reason for the gaps on my cv (or even simply that I could not work due to health issues) I hear nothing back. When I stopped mentioning it on my CV but instead went to an interview and then mentioned the reason for the gaps they would then contact me saying that other applicants were better suited to the job. This may or may not have been true but I can't help but think that me being honest was undoubtedly part of the reason I did not get these jobs I applied for.

Now I could just accept this and sit on my arse claiming benefits watching loose women all day. But I want to work. Work can give you back your confidence and self esteem and I became desperate so I filled in the gaps on my CV with jobs that I did not have. I wasn't claiming to be a helicopter pilot or a heart surgeon, I was just claiming to have worked in jobs like waitressing, office temping etc. For reasons I won't go into, the employer found out that I lied. I explained why I lied, because I had suffered serious job discrimination due to having had previously suffered from serious mental health problems but that I am much better now and could produce a letter from my GP saying that I am more than capable of working. Up until the employer found out about my lie, they were extremely happy with my work, but now they know I lied they have dismissed me. Not only that but they are saying that they may sue me for the cost of getting a replacement for me through an agency.

I have no money so I don't know what they think they'll achieve by suing me. Perhaps they are just looking to be cruel. I have pointed out to them that prior to finding out about my lies they were extremely happy with my work. Yet they still chose to sack me instead of keeping me on which makes me feel confused as to whether or not they actually could sue, given that it was their choice to get rid of me despite having acknowledged that I was doing an excellent job. The job I got sacked from is a low level admin job but to prevent these costs I have offered to work for free for a month until they get a replacement but they have not yet responded to this offer.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

Sure, basically I have a long history of mental health problems, nothing psychotic, just bipolar/anxiety. This has meant that I literally have years of employment gaps. If I mention this as the reason for the gaps on my cv (or even simply that I could not work due to health issues) I hear nothing back. When I stopped mentioning it on my CV but instead went to an interview and then mentioned the reason for the gaps they would then contact me saying that other applicants were better suited to the job. This may or may not have been true but I can't help but think that me being honest was undoubtedly part of the reason I did not get these jobs I applied for.

Now I could just accept this and sit on my arse claiming benefits watching loose women all day. But I want to work. Work can give you back your confidence and self esteem and I became desperate so I filled in the gaps on my CV with jobs that I did not have. I wasn't claiming to be a helicopter pilot or a heart surgeon, I was just claiming to have worked in jobs like waitressing, office temping etc. For reasons I won't go into, the employer found out that I lied. I explained why I lied, because I had suffered serious job discrimination due to having had previously suffered from serious mental health problems but that I am much better now and could produce a letter from my GP saying that I am more than capable of working. Up until the employer found out about my lie, they were extremely happy with my work, but now they know I lied they have dismissed me. Not only that but they are saying that they may sue me for the cost of getting a replacement for me through an agency.

I have no money so I don't know what they think they'll achieve by suing me. Perhaps they are just looking to be cruel. I have pointed out to them that prior to finding out about my lies they were extremely happy with my work. Yet they still chose to sack me instead of keeping me on which makes me feel confused as to whether or not they actually could sue, given that it was their choice to get rid of me despite having acknowledged that I was doing an excellent job. The job I got sacked from is a low level admin job but to prevent these costs I have offered to work for free for a month until they get a replacement but they have not yet responded to this offer.

What was your job type and specific tasks, are you in a union or have you had a thorough disciplinary investigation, what date were you actually dismissed, again put these details concisely. I'll assume you're female which is also protected by the following law too. There is a 3 month time limit and unless the discrimination continued to your last working day, the 3 months starts when you were last discriminated against. The employer has a duty to make reasonable adjustments when he either is aware or should be aware (constructively) that you have a disability. You certainly have a disability which puts you at a serious and substantial disadvantage on the job market as a disabled person. Since the employer has dismissed you it is disability discrimination either under EU law's Equal Treatment Treaty and or relevant employment Directive, and UK law ie Equality Act 2010. The dismissal was associated with your disability which you failed to disclose, which you also avoided mentioning in your cover letter, or the application form itself, or improved your CV by creating fictitious jobs and experiences.

You could say, I in general have the right to a private life and this includes respect for matters or issues which were prior to this employment and do not relate employment. The facts are I have a disability as I did not want to be disadvantaged in the employment market where I am already disadvantaged in economic terms where I in fact unfortunately share the characteristics of the disabled communities pursuant to the Equality Act's 2010 statute. I omitted details from my CV to protect self from disability discrimination, as where the disability has been, or were to be, disclosed there would be in my view a very certain prospect that I would be prejudiced when applying for jobs. If this were not the case there would be no need for the Equality Act 2010 or its predecessor statute, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, however Parliament in its infinite wisdom did in fact recognise the real problem with disability discrimination amongst other discriminations so legislated for the betterment of disabled communities amongst the other communities, to benefit the UK's economy.

In the second instance, I may have embellished my CV (ie made it look better) although it was not my intention to do this but in fact only did so as I know that employers sift through candidates' CVs and its consequence is that the other non disabled comparators are more likely than not to be in an advantaged position. I sincerely regret what I have done, what I know now to be an error of judgement on my behalf albeit notwithstanding said economic problems and Parliament's actions.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

You lie about your work history to get a job. You do the job well and this is acknowledged by your employer. But they find out that you lied and not only sack you but they say they are considering suing you for the cost of recruiting a new employee.

If you did not lie about qualifications and the job was not something that could put other people at risk then I see that they may still dismiss. However, if you were doing the job well and they were happy with your work until they found out about your false work history can they genuinely sue you? They could have kept you on and let you keep doing the job but they chose not to do so and therefore partially brought these costs upon themselves. Has anyone ever heard of a case where an employer has sued an employee for lying about their work history? Again, I am not talking about people who have falsely claimed to have qualifications that they did not have. That is a different gravy.

Is the job you do now different to the jobs you put on your CV (to fill the gaps where you were under your substantive disability's effect)? If so, it is irrelevant that you put certain jobs on the CV to stop any embarrassing or awkward questions. I am not certain whether it is potentially unfair or wrongful dismissal either. Did you have a formal disciplinary as under law any disciplinaries must be investigated properly. Did you tell the employer you had a disability before you were dismissed? By that I mean tell them about your mental health problems?

[apron]

Re: Sacked for lying about work history

I was dismissed last week. The job was just normal office admin type stuff. Answering phones, dictation, filing etc.

They said they did not have to carry out an investigation because A) I openly admitted that I lied on my CV so there was nothing to investigate - and - B) I have not been working there for more that two years so I can't make a claim for unfair dismissal.

One of the fictitious jobs was similar to the work I do now but the other was not. I claimed to have been a waitress. In fact at this time I was on incapacity benefit and had been hospitalised due to my mental health problems. When they asked me for the reason that I lied on my CV I told them immediately that I was trying to avoid having to tell any future prospective employer that I suffered from mental health problems as revealing this had cost me jobs in the past. They sacked me anyway saying that they felt I could not be trusted due to the lies on my CV. This may be true but more than likely they don't want someone with a history of mental illness working for them. At this rate I don't think I'll ever get a job. I might have to start my own business.

Really appreciate all your points above. Very interesting stuff although I don't know if I could stomach an employment tribunal. The question seems to be whether or not my right to take liberties with the truth so as to avoid being discriminated against supersedes their right not to be lied to during the recruitment process. I have no union and no money for lawyers so I think I'll just get myself back down the dole office. :tinysmile_cry_t: