Running head: MS.

TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 1

Ms. Tara King’s Resume Exaggeration

Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 2

Ms. Tara King’s Resume Exaggeration

Memorandum

Date:

To: Mindy Wu, Director of Human Resources Department

From: XXX

Subject: Ms. Tara King’s Resume Exaggeration and Newly Awarded Position.

In response to your request, the significance of this memo is to outline suggestions on

appropriate actions that the Human Resources Department could follow based on the assessment

of Tara King’s resume embellishment and newly awarded position. What follows is a summary

of the incident, an ethical and legal assessment of the incident and the suggested plan of actions

for Ms. Tara King.

Background of the Incident

Based on her outstanding performance and leadership skills that allowed Friendly Digits

to have positive growth, Ms. Tara King was chosen for promotion. Tala King had attained

excellent performance evaluation for the senior vice president position. Her leadership skills

ensured an increase in the Friendly Digits’ revenue as well as the company’s positive press. Ernst

Blofeld, who was vying for the same position as Tara raised concern, through the voicemail,

about the failure of Tala King to have an MBA which is a necessity for the position. After

reception of the voicemail, it was affirmed that Ms. King failed to have the MBA requirement

which was highlighted in her resume.

Currently, Friendly Digits’ policy manual demands all the employees submit all their

transcripts on the degrees listed on the resume. This requirement was outlined four years ago,

and a degree in MBA was made a requirement for the position of senior vice president which
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 3

Ms. King occupies currently. However, ten years ago when Ms. King was recruited for the

position of assistant project specialist, the company did not demand a submission of transcripts

for degree outlined on applicants’ resumes as evidence of obtainment. While two senior vice

presidents at the company lack MBA degrees, they continue to hold their position because their

promotion occurred before the new amendments. By the new policy, the Human Resource

Department had official request transcripts from all employees. Ms. King was unable to avail

meet these demanded documents and affirmed her failure to attain MBA degree that had been

listed on her resume.

Ethical Analysis

Friendly Digits is under right versus right dilemma. To solve the ethical decision-making

dilemma, professor Badaracco presents a model that can be implemented in evaluating

approaches in which a right versus a right dilemma can be resolved. The model avails essential

questions to guide the making of the decision. First, Baracco questions the overall outcome of

the problem and people affected by the decision made. The moral decision is the one that leads to

the greatest good for most of the parties. Before proposing the suggestions, I would like to

uncover Badaracco’s framework by exploring three possible resolution.

 Keep Ms. King in her current position. Letting Ms. King maintain her position as

senior vice president will be the best outcome for Friendly Digits because she has enabled

the company to be successful, profitable and respectable. However, the recent events will

probably trigger controversies when the stakeholders such as employees and other

customer discover that she is unqualified and exaggerated her education profile which is

fraudulent. This resolution may likely hard the company’s reputation as an ethical

organization and generate a negative inference for future promotion. Allowing Ms. King
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 4

to keep her current position will ensure that she has job security which will make her see

a gap to demand a high salary. Besides, allowing her to keep her job will open a gap for

future reference from other employee seeking promotion. Another negative aspect of

allowing Ms. King to keep her job is the negative feeling from other workers such as

Ernst Blofeld who would likely file a case suit or quit their job due to gender bias in the

company.

 Demote Ms. King. If the HR departments resolve to demote Ms. King to her initial

position, she will still keep her job. The company will still benefit from her excellent

work while still allowing her to complete her certification in MBA to finally obtaining

the promotion in the future. Although Mr. Blofeld may not be the best fit for the position,

he may be promoted. However, Tala may opt to search for other job opportunities and

part from Friendly Digits.

 Terminate Ms. King. This resolution will result in the promotion of Mr. Blofeld even

though he is not the best personnel for the job. Ms. King has an outstanding reputation for

improving Friendly Digits’ revenue, and if she is terminated from the organization, the

company may undergo loss based on this choice. The termination of Ms. King may also

be a wrongful resolution, and when taken to court, the company may incur financial loss.

Terminating Ms. King at Friendly Digits will make her superiors as well as other

stakeholders unhappy. This will also have a negative effect on her family as they rely on

her financially. Friendly Digits would also lose the excellent skills and expertise

attributed to Ms. King due to termination. Allowing Ms. King to keep her current

position would allow the company to improve its performance while benefiting from the
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 5

positive press. However, this resolution could have a negative impact on the company

and the employees.

Second, professor Badaracco’s (2016) approach considers which people in which context

have the right that should be respected and should not be violated regardless of what is done to

wrestle with the right versus right dilemma. However, understanding the rights of the involved

entities in the right versus a right problem in most case is complex since the parties can range

from the stakeholders to employees and members of the family. Although Mr. Blofeld appears to

be whistleblowing with his seemingly drunken slurred language, it cannot be ignored that he has

the right to raise concern about the qualification of any person for the position of senior vice

president. However, Friendly Digits cannot ignore the remarkable input that Ms. King has

directed towards the success of the company for the past years prior the promotion incidence.

Terminating Ms. King will be a disservice to the organization.

Third, Badaraco’s framework advises Friendly Digits to consider why and what are the

good decisions. According to Badaraco, a good decision is the one achieved by an individual

with good character, after reflection, in a good company (Badaraco, 2016). Specifically, Friendly

Digits will need to focus on personal and organizational values as well as conscience. The

question the HR department should ask in such instance is “what course of action can I live

with?” As such, Friendly Digits should consider all the long-term implication of the decision

made not only on the company’s reputation but also on the individual reputation. The demotion

of Ms. King and permitting her to attain her MBA degree demonstrates a decision made based on

careful reflection and not based on calculation and deliberation. When Ms. King suspended her

education, she meant good intentions for her family. From the stakeholders’ perspective, it would
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 6

be admirable to keep hold of great workers but be fair in the fact that she needs to attain the

requirements of the promotion.

Finally, the company needs to consider what may work in the real world. The question

that Friendly Digits need to ask is “what is going to work” which demands people to be highly

practical and realistic on what needs to be done for the survival of the company (Badaraco,

2016). The approach to keep Ms. King while allowing her to pursue her degree in MBA will

make the company successful. Specifically, this decision demonstrates that Friendly Digits

supports Ms. King in her initiative and appreciates her contribution and the input she has already

directed into the growth of the company. The decision to demote Ms. King is an ethical approach

because of the nature of the policy, and this approach illustrates that the company adheres to the

set policy when it comes to creating a fair environment.

Legal Analysis

Ms. King committed fraud by embellishing her resume listing that she had attained MBA

to secure job at Friendly Digits. Resume misrepresentation can lead to criminal penalties. It is a

breach of the duty of trust when employees decide to deceive based on their qualification. More

than eleven states in the United States consider falsifying a person’s job qualification as a

criminal offense. Nearly 50% of these states consider this criminal offense punishable with seven

years of jail term (Bowall & Khodosko, 2012). Although in most incidents resume exaggeration

is remedied in the form of financial compensation, in most cases such as the state of Kentucky,

misrepresentation of academic records is classified as a Class A offense which is punishable by

up to one year in jail as well as fines (Mackey, 2012). The HR department should understand that

if Ms. King is an “at will” staff, resume misrepresentation avails a reasonable ground for
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 7

terminating her contract. If she is an “at will” employee and the company chooses to end her

contract, it can effectively terminate her under the employment at will doctrine.

However, if Friendly Digits decides to retain Ms. King as a senior vice president, it has

encountered a legal implication when Ernst Blofeld decides to apply for a lawsuit on the grounds

of discrimination because he had qualified for the position. Mr. Blofeld can sue Friendly Digits

for gender discrimination because he was denied the promotion despite him being an ideal

candidate for the position. Unlike Ms. King who did not have the MBA degree, Mr. Blofeld had

the relevant requirement as per the company policies (Isaacs, 2016). The legal lawsuit may lead

to a significant monetary loss for the Friendly Digits and can also damage the reputation of the

company.

Recommendations

Based on her outstanding performance and leadership skills, Ms. King has proven herself

to Friendly Digits as a loyal and valuable staff for the last decade. As demonstrated, terminating

Ms. King would be a disservice to the organization, the main stakeholders, and the customers.

However, the right vs. right dilemmas in the Badaracco framework can be viewed as dirty hand

challenges because a tough decision needs to be made between the high competing virtue such as

honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respects. The right vs. wrong ethical dilemma is slightly

different from right vs. wrong ethical issues because their highlight conditions where decisions

need to be made in the event of two right alternatives. Based on both ethical and legal

assessment, a suggestion will be for Friendly Digits to locate an interim replacement with the

required qualifications. Besides, the company should consider demoting Ms. King and allow her

to complete her MBA certification before any consideration for the deserved position of senior

vice present which will provide Friendly Digits with the most benefits and the least harm.
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 8

Allowing Ms. King to keep her current position at the company will be a violation of the

company policy as well as a violation of equality and fairness in the company.

After the demotion, Ms. King should be reinstated to her prevision job position which

does not need an MBA degree. Friendly Digits should provide Ms. King with specified duration

to finish her degree which could make her eligible for the promotion. After attaining her MBA

degree, Friendly Digits should consider her for the next promotion as she would have met the

requirements for the position. Based on her family background, Friendly Digits may want to

establish commitment and loyalty from Ms. King by developing a program to see her through her

education such as developing a favorable work schedule to allow her to balance the work and

study interface. Friendly Digits should also develop a financial initiative to cover for her

education and recover the amount once she completes her studies.

For Friendly Digits to arrive at an effective solution, the company should consider the

application of the golden rule test, the newspaper test as well as the obituary test. The company

needs to consider the available option if the case becomes published in the newspaper. Although

the newspaper reaction will not be significantly positive, the demotion of Ms. King and her

allowance to work on her MBA certification would be understandable to the public instead of her

complete contract termination or permitting her to keep her place as the senior vice president. In

the context of the golden rule, Friendly Digits should place itself in Ms. King’s shoes where she

had to choose her family over the completion of her MBA degree. At the time, Ms. King had a

sound motive to postpone her education based on what suited the family. As such, Friendly

Digits should decide according to what benefit the company’s commitments, mission, and

values. The company values excellent workers who follow the company policy. In the context of

obituary test, the company should consider how “our best friends” would react and think about
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 9

our decisions. With an approach to demote Ms. King and allow her complete her MBA, the

customers, and the stakeholders would develop a strong understanding of the demotion.

Although the company should be prepared for scrutiny, questions, and comments, it needs to

stand firm in support for Ms. King and its decision.

In support of ethical and legal assessment, kindly refer the citations below. In case the

HR Department seeks further explanation, please do not hesitate to conduct me.

Kind Regards

XXXX
MS. TARA KING’S RESUME EXAGGERATION 10

References

Badaracco, J., L. (2016). Managing in the gray: Five timeless questions for resolving your

toughest problems at work. Uitgever: Harvard Business Review Press

Bowall, P. & Khodosko, M. (2012). The law of embellished credentials. Retrieved From:

http://www.lawnow.org/the-law-of-embellished-credentials/

Isaacs, K. (2016). Lying on your resume: What are the consequences? Monster World Wide Inc.

Retrieved From: https://www.monster.ca/career-advice/article/lying-on-your-resume-

canada

Mackey, M. (2012, May 15). Ex-Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson and seven other cases of resume

fraud. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/15/yahoo-CEO-Scott-Thompsons-resume-

fraud_n_1516061.html