Business Insight

Salt Lake Tribune, Courtesy of TCI-Smith Publicity
Barry J. Nadell
President and co-founder of InfoLink Screening Services, Chatsworth, Calif.

Put into perspective your recent report showing that on their resumes 41 percent of employees falsify credit histories or traffic violations, 14 percent distort educational achievements and 8.5 percent lie about criminal records.

It's troubling because employers [often] give disclosures to applicants authorizing background checks, so these people know there will be some kind of checking. When confronted, they will leave and go to another employer who does not do background checks. We've been doing this study for a number of years and are finding that the numbers of falsehoods is increasing. There also has been a proliferation in lies about education. Companies offer unaccredited university certificates or sell novelty diplomas. I bought one for $295 saying I graduated from the University of Southern California's law school. It's difficult to tell it from an actual diploma.

Do discrepancies on resumes reach to the top or was it a fluke that Radio Shack Corp.'s CEO David Edmonson recently resigned in the wake of news reports about inconsistencies on his resume?

People seem to feel a need to stretch the truth. Obviously the media catch some, so you can imagine how much they don't catch. All it takes is one situation to embarrass a company such as Radio Shack. We've seen all kinds of situations. One I remember was a CFO applicant seeking a job at a major name company. The applicant didn't falsify his education, but we found that there had been a negotiated settlement for embezzlement with his former company. It took a deep background check to find it.

Are there any indicators that suggest a resume might contain falsehoods?

Applicants will leave blanks, they might not fill in all the information or they won't sign the application form. That's a good indication there might be something suspicious. A resume is not a legal document, but a signed application that is fraudulent can be used against someone legally. On the other side, there also are lots of cases holding employers liable for negligent hiring practices. Trusted Health Resources Inc. of Brockton, Mass., had not done a background check on an employee who murdered a man and his grandmother to cover up a theft. A jury awarded the family $26.5 million. We have a Web site, greathire.com that lists things employers can do to avoid making a bad hire. I've also written a book, "Sleuthing 101, Background Checks and the Law," which may be found on the same Web site.

What kind of recourse do employees have if a resume check is botched?

Applicants are protected under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Any employer taking adverse or negative actions such as they don't hire, they rescind an offer or they fire someone, they must first give a copy of the report to the employee, along with a statement of their rights provided by the Federal Trade Commission. The employer also must wait a reasonable amount of time so the applicant can dispute any information from the report. If there's a dispute, the law requires an investigation.

- Dawn House, dawn@sltrib.com