Is It Legal for Companies to Ignore Fake Resumes and Promote Based on Connections?

I work for a big multinational, publicly traded company in New York. Recently, an employee received a promotion and was assigned greater responsibilities.

The problem is that this person had faked her resume, filled multiple gaps in her experience, and also used fake employers. My company never checked her out in the first place and hired her because she was known to a manager in the company.

Now they promoted her over some other team members who actually do all the work and really deserved a promotion but are not that well connected. Another employee (my friend) complained to their manager and also to the Ethics Department about this person falsifying her resume and experience.

Nothing was done. She is still employed, and the company has apparently decided to ignore this. Due to this, my friend has decided to leave the company.

Legal and Ethical Concerns

Is this legal? Can the company apply ethics selectively? Is the company bound to follow its own ethics? Is there any legal standing that the other employees who were not promoted or could have been promoted instead have?

Thank you for your help!

Let's face it—the world isn't all BLACK & WHITE. In fact, a major part (depending on the way an individual sees it, whether it's 50% or less or more or much, much more) of it is in GREY.

Answering Your Queries

Is this legal, can the company apply ethics selectively?
Ans: Please don't mix up issues. 'Legality' is different from 'ethics'. Some situations may not be illegal but would be ethically wrong.

Is this legal, is the company bound to follow their own ethics?
Ans: Yes. But that's the whole funny aspect of human nature—how many follow/practice what they preach, whether an individual, company, or country?

Is there any legal standing that the other employees have who were not promoted or could have been promoted instead?
Ans: I am not sure I understand your fascination for 'LEGAL SOLUTIONS', if they exist. Assuming they exist, do you propose to go the legal way for situations of this nature? Assuming you go the legal way, what's the next step? The employee needs to hire a lawyer & fight the case for years...knowing how the legal system works in India. Leave others, would YOU prefer to put a lot, if not all, of your time, resources, and effort in such a direction—along with the associated distraction within the family? And at the end of the day, what if the organization 'manages' to show that they are not wrong? Would you be mentally & physically prepared for such an end-result? At what cost? And even if you won the case, would it be worth the trouble for such an issue, where there could be other more realistic/practical avenues/solutions available?

Ways to Handle the Issue

1. Since you say it's a big MNC, I am sure there must be avenues to handle employee complaints/issues—some forum or maybe HR. Suggest adopting this option. But the catch in such a method would be the associated confidentiality—would the complainant be penalized/harassed later? Even if you have the smallest doubt on this score, then this may not be the appropriate option.

2. Just do your work to the best extent you can while you are there (just because others aren't following ethics doesn't mean YOU SHOULDN'T, thereby putting yourself in the same shoes), and begin to look out. Change the job with ALL your documents in place (Experience/Service Letters, etc).

At the end of the day, whether it's for an individual, organization, or country, PAY-TIME WILL ALWAYS COME (if you watch the TV nowadays, you know what I mean). Just ensure YOU are not carrying the cross for someone else's mistakes, meaning you are NOT made the scapegoat for others' faults/mistakes. Which further means, DON'T PUT YOURSELF IN SUCH A SITUATION to begin with. There's no point saying—he/she made me pay for his/her mistakes—later on, when YOU GAVE THEM A CHANCE to begin with.

Regards,
TS