Lying on résumé puts credibility, job in jeopardy

By Elaine Varelas, Globe Correspondent, 7/18/04

I was laid off from a small one-owner firm and not given any notice or severance pay. The owner refused to let me fill out a final timesheet for the last week I worked or pay me for vacation time used during that period. The company also said I shouldn't file for unemployment. I filed anyway. I did receive a check from my employer, along with a pay stub in the mail a week later, but the amounts were not correct. I contacted the owner and asked for a corrected amount and to be paid for my unused vacation for the year. The office handbook states that all vacation and sick time is available to be used by the employee immediately on the first day of the year, and it is shown on our pay stubs. The owner refused this request. After I left, the owner searched the hard drive of the office-owned computer that I used and discovered my résumé on it. He took issue with several things, most of which revolve around the amount of my involvement and level of responsibility with projects in the office. I did overstate my level of education and listed earning a graduate degree that I did not finish. In the past six weeks, the owner has left threatening messages demanding that I change my résumé and send a letter of retraction to the college at which I teach. I refused to do so. Subsequently, the director of the college where I teach gave me a copy of a letter they had recently received from the owner, which listed all the issues he had with my résumé. As a result, my teaching position is in jeopardy. I have heard through the grapevine that during my continued job search, at least one potential employer has been contacted by the owner, thereby ending any chances for a job with that firm. I have sent a complaint to the state attorney general's office. My reputation is being damaged, and my ability to find a job is slipping away. My unemployment insurance still hasn't been resolved either. What else can I do to stop this harassment and recover my lost wages?

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