Resume Fraud Case Summary

In this case, Tara Kind received a promotion with the company to the position of a senior vice president. That promotion was based on her educational credentials that included an MBA, but most importantly her work history at the Friendly Digits. From her performance evaluation, it shows that she is a high performer and directly increased the organization’s revenue and also positive press. However, the MBA listed in her resume is false because she did not complete her degree and ten years ago when she was hired at Friendly Digits, having an advanced degree was not a requirement for her job. It was also not a requirement for the potential employees to present the transcripts for their listed degrees.

The memo aims to provide recommendations

on the actions that the Human Resource Department must take based on analysis of Tara King human resource record, resume, and the senior vice president position. From the case, King’s history with the organization does reveal excellent performance that played a key role in facilitating her promotion to her position, which is a position that requires an individual to have an MBA. Despite her performance, King does not have the right qualifications to qualify for the position of a Senior Vice President.
As a result, King’s case may be analyzed using Badaracco’s right versus right framework. The Badaracco’s framework aims at resolving ethical dilemmas that involve conflicting but legitimate moral values (Badaracco, 1992). It is a framework that offers fundamental questions to be used in solving the dilemmas. The questions tend to examine consequences and individual directly affected by choice being made, the rights involved, personal and organizational values, and the practical and realistic point of view. There are several scenarios for this case (Badaracco, 2016). One is Friendly Digit can keep King in her current position although she does not have the right credential for the position but has proved to be more competent and excelled at her job. Second, is for Friendly Digits to fund the final twelve courses since the King has done a lot for the company. Third, is for the King to be taken down one level as an assistant vice president and in salary until she can finish her MBA course. With this action, it indicates that the organization provides a second chance, but will not stand for dishonesty and indicate that the company believes in job security for those employees who show their knowledge and excellence (Badaracco, 2016). Fourth is providing an amnesty period to King and allow her to complete her education.
Firing or even stripping king’s current position due to the embellished resume would make her superiors unhappy and may have negative consequences on her family because they depend on her financially. By allowing King to continue with her current position, it is expected that the company will perform exemplary; hence, increase revenue and even continue enjoying positive press. These factors will have a positive impact on the company and also shareholders and stakeholders. On the other hand, overlooking the issue and allowing King to continue working at her current position as senior Vice president will be unethical and a violation of the employee’s rights like those of equal and fair employee treatment provided the requirement for the transcripts in any position. Since Blofeld was previously considered for the senior position and has the requirements for the position, he is at a greater advantage over King who lacks the MBA degree. Therefore, allowing King to take the job is a violation of employee’s rights and particularly in regards to Blofeld.
When considering the issues in the case, the recommendation for the best ethical course of action is for the company to discharge King’s responsibility as the senior vice president and offer the job to Blofeld who is qualified. After she is discharged, King should be provided her previous position as assistant project specialists that do not need an MBA degree. King’s promotion needs to be put on hold, and the company must provide King a specified duration to complete the remaining credits for her MBA program. By acquiring her MBA degree, it will make her eligible for the senior vice president position. After she has acquired her MBA degree, she may then be considered for the next open senior vice president position since she will meet all the requirements for the job position. The company may create a favorable working schedule for King so that she can work and also attend classes and even come up with a financial plan to help pay for her studies. Such a decision is ethical since it follows the recommendation outlines by Badaracco’s right versus right through making sure that both parties benefit from the decision.
In a legal perspective, embellishing a resume can be prosecuted in the court of law as criminal fraud.

Resume fraud or misinterpretation of a person’s qualification is considered as a criminal offense. Those employees who are deceptive in regards to their qualification might be considered in what is viewed as the breach of the duty of trust that is implied in all employment contracts (Winfield, 2013). The non-disclosure or false disclosure is a criminal offense that can lead to intentional fraudulent misinterpretation of a certain piece of information that is responsible for inducing the employer to hire an individual (Winfield, 2013). It is possible for King to be found guilty of fraud. Resume fraud is a certain type of fraud that may carry criminal or civil penalties or even both depending on jurisdiction. I believe that it is likely that King will be found guilty of resume fraud where she intentionally misrepresented information in her resume so that to prove she completed her MBA while in reality, she was 12 credits away from completing her degree. Because of this, the company can terminate her employment following application of the doctrine of employment at will. Some of the legal implications include destroying the reputation of the company and affecting the job performance of other employees, which in return will negatively affect company performance

levels.
The employment at will is the relationship where employers do have the right of terminating employees at any time for no reason or a legitimate reason without cause or notice (Lawton & Páez 2015). At-will employees like King should know that resume fraud offers reasonable ground for termination of employment since it can undermine legitimate arguments for wrongful or unfair discharge (Lawton & Páez 2015). The company understands hardships that families can cause a burden to an employee; however, King did have ample time to understand the rules and the requirements for the position of the senior vice president. In this case, Friendly Digits has the reasonable ground for terminating King’s employment, and it will not be held accountable for wrongful discharge. The company has legal grounds for firing King or even taking any other legal actions against her because of embellishment of her resume. When considering the circumstances that led to her action, her contribution to the company’s success, and also her diverse expertise and skills that are crucial to the success of the company, Friendly Digits should make some consideration.
Ethics is viewed as the principles of conduct that tend to influence how an individual behaves (Bredeson, 2012). Badaracco, an ethics professor, claims that the right vs. right dilemma is usually characterized as dirty hands problems because tough choices need to be made between the highly competing virtues like objectivity, fairness, honesty, respect, and responsibility. In solving ethical decision-making dilemma, Badaracco has a framework that may be used in assessing how right vs. right issues may be solved. When using the Badaracco right vs. right framework, it is recommended that the organization should discharge King Responsibilities as the senior vice president and consider providing the job to Blofeld who is more qualified. The company needs to fill this senior vice president with a candidate who is qualified, but not King. However, she should retain her previous job as the assistant project specialist while she is provided the opportunity of finishing her MBA degree so that to qualify for the position of a senior vice president. Providing King with this opportunity will enable her to have a certificate and even produce it for consideration of promotion.