A hospital where my father has worked hired a new department
manager. My father's friend discovered that the university that
granted her MBA is unaccredited and offers life-experience
degrees from its headquarters on a Caribbean island. While she
never directly lied, and an MBA is not required for the job,
physicians now have doubts about her. She would probably not have
been hired had personnel known about the shady degree. Should she
be fired for her implicit lie? -- G.O., Canada
Should someone submit a misleading resume with impunity?
Certainly not. When a dubious entry appears on a resume, should
that new employee be flogged through the hospital, from
obstetrics to cardiology? Again, no. OK, you proposed not
thrashing but dismissal, but even so, your remedy is likely too
harsh and surely premature.
Most significant, it is not clear that this manager did lie.
If she listed the correct name of this half-baked institution,
she may have given a ludicrously burnished impression to any
casual reader, but a resume is not for the casual reader. It is
to be examined assiduously -- schools phoned, experience
confirmed, references checked -- by a fastidious professional.
One consequence of this episode should be more stringent
procedures in the human resources department or even sanctions
against the administrator who failed to scrutinize this
resume.
In light of this revelation, the hospital should reconsider
the new manager's appointment, vetting her with the thoroughness
it should have applied in the first place. It may be that her
education and experience amply equip her for her duties, in which
case she should keep her job; it is noteworthy, after all, that
an MBA is not a job requirement. But even then, if a
re-examination reveals her to have been deceitful, some
punishment short of firing -- suspension or a fine, perhaps -- is
appropriate.
UPDATE: G.O. writes that a week into the new job, after a talk
with one of her superiors about her qualifications, the manager
submitted her letter of resignation.
A high school team I belong to held a fundraiser, sending
letters to friends and family soliciting donations. Some
teammates' parents had qualms about this. They felt that it was
equivalent to asking others to pay for their sons' expenses. Is
this a valid reason not to participate in the fundraiser? --
Joshua Sung, Plainsboro, N.J.