He lied on his resume — so why’s he suing for discrimination?
July 2, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In This Week's E-Newsletter, Latest News & Views, Law
Can an employee sue for discrimination and harassment, even if he was about to be fired for lying on his resume? Read the facts of this real-life case and decide: Who won?
The facts:
A recently-hired employee discovered he had a serious illness. He was still able to work, but when his co-workers found out, he started experiencing some immature harassment. He complained to his supervisors, but wasn’t satisfied with the response. Eventually, he quit and sued the company for disability discrimination.
The employer said:
After the man quit, the employer discovered that he had failed to disclose a prior criminal conviction on his employment application. If it had found out while the man was working, he would have been fired — therefore, he had no standing to sue for discrimination.
Who won the case?
Answer: The employee.
Why: Since no one at the company knew about the lie while the alleged harassment was happening, it was completely irrelevant. Learning about the conviction didn’t change the fact that he was discriminated against because of his disability.
Cite: Cicchetti v. Morris County Sheriff’s Office
Tags: ADA, resume lies, sheriff's office
July 8th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Maybe I’m not reading this correctly, or perhaps my “nitpickiness” is showing, but where is the discrimination? I could understand, possibly, harrassment. Where is the “disability”? He was continuing to work. Disability implies an inability to perform job functions. From what I’m reading, there weren’t any changes to his job assignments or location or responsibilities; he didn’t lose any promotions to less qualified personnel.
It seems to me that the facts, as stated, don’t really substantiate “discrimination”.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Although the article was vague and did not mention any specifics, there is a such thing as “Qualified Worker with a Disability”. A Qualified Worker with a Disability is someone who is capable of performing the essential duties of the job, with or without reasonable accomodation by th employer. Such individuals are protected by the ADA.
A Disability for the purpose of the ADA is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. A major life activity is a basic activity that most people can easily perform, such as sitting and standing.
If this employee was being harassed because of the disability and reported this to the supervisor(s) and the supervisor(s) did nothing to correct it on behalf of the harassed employee it then became disability discrimination and the employer is liable.
July 8th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Disability does not imply an inability to perform job functions.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Pam is exactly right and some refer to “perceived disability” where the person is still capable of performing the job but is treated differently because of the disability itself. It sounds like (Roberta hit it) that the harassment may have been based on that perception. Regardless of his history (unknown at the time), no one deserves to work in a hostile work environment.