Any Lawyers here? Need a legal Perspective on the world’s most ridiculous scenario

[Thisisastupidscenario]

So in this hypothetical situation… which I’m aware is ridiculous.

If an individual with an axe to grind was to approach the HR department of a company or the company in general (a large international company that has large customers) and make some allegations against an employee (namely that they’ve lied about their qualifications, despite fairly rigorous onboarding). Would or could that company sue that individual with an axe to grind for several million (maybe billion, and this is just an average joe here) for fraud and reputation damage?

to me it sounds like utter dog poo. But I’m not a sharp legal kind.

Even so, a company isn't going to charter private jets for someone on £70k.

Yeah, I remember that one

Damn, need to ask dh where his employer is stashing his private jet!

I know you can’t @Thisisastupidscenario but I’d love to hear the bugger story about this. Must be incredibly infuriating for you.

No no one has, it’s all invented

Companies normally check everyone's qualifications etc before they start through third party agencies, so if that's been done they'd just ignore the claims. They might run the checks again if the allegations were so detailed as to seem credible, or if they alleged the individual had been able to mislead the third party verifiers somehow (unlikely).

Other than that, nothing would happen. Companies really don't give a shit about lunatics writing all cap emails because they get so many of them.

You're clearly onto something OP because if he really were all the things he claims to be he'd be secure in the knowledge you were wrong, shrug and leave you to get on with it.

It’s a big company so they would have, so what I think has happened here is that he does work there but in a much more junior, probably entry level role.

but to new friends/ partners he’s claiming to have these high level quals and then to family and friends and anyone outside the company he is claiming that he’s in a a senior leadership role, that type that morally requires 20+ years of industry experience

so he’s been checked and his legit quals have but for the job he’s got but he’s claiming to have a much more senior position due to his qualifications but this is now self protection to ensure he doesn’t get rumbled

Don’t we all, I don’t want to link them because I name changed but if you remember what he was doing on the threads, it’s the same concerning behaviour

If he’s lied to the company about his qualifications and the company finds out, there would be grounds for dismissal.

but as others have said, there would be be grounds for the company to sue the complainer.

Ther would be o grounds to Sue!

(Oh I give up. Bloody phone)

I am not a lawyer but an employer.

If I heard from a random source that there was an allegation that one of my employees had falsified their qualifications I would first check the credibility of the source

If credible I would also, before taking action, consider whether the employee was actually extremely good at their job or not. If someone is on a £70k salary they should be performing at a level that most ordinary Joes can't sustain. If they are doing it successfully then I would be 80% inclined to not care. These days we tend to specify "bachelor degree OR equivalent professional workplace experience" because some people get to where they are going by unconventional routes - but there's the issue of honesty too and obviously lying is bad. So IF they were good at their job and having a non-graduate in the role wouldn't leave us uninsured or something would talk to the employee 1:1 and let them know I rate their work highly and appreciate them, that an allegation of this kind has been made and that I don't care that they are unqualified but I do care if I am being lied to so if this allegation is true they can come clean now and there will be no consequences.

Of course if they aren't great at their job then this would be a useful bit of information for showing them the door.

There is absolutely no chance the company would sue the would-be whistleblower. If the allegation is true then they have done nothing wrong. If it is false then it's not the company who is being harmed but the individual, but it's a weird thing to make a false allegation of because all university qualifications are matters of public record, universities publish their lists of graduates. I can claim I got a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Nottingham in 2005 but if my name isn't on the list of people who got that degree in that year then no I didn't.

However I think it's more likely that your relative is actually on a £35k salary and is lying to you about their income and seniority.

IANAL, but if I recall correctly English law in any case protects someone who is telling the truth, as in, if you said "Walter doesn't have a PhD" and Walter does not, in fact, have a PhD, and loses his job for lying, he could have a try at suing but his case will be thrown out because you were simply stating the truth. A qualification is something you verifiably have or not, although I presume he would, under pressure, spout some flimflam about a non-accredited course online that is just like a PhD or whatever.

The lawsuit thing is clearly a transparent and pathetic attempt to put people off looking him up at this company and destroying his sad lies.

I read on here a while ago that actually some companies do hire private planes to transport multiple employees and that they actually are not too expensive. More junior staff might use them as well to fill any spaces.

so that part might not be a total lie. However, sitting on a plane is really boring and not anything to boast about.

But why do you care? If he’s shit at his job, he’ll be found out and sacked. Or maybe he’s in a role where the ability to tell massive porkies is an asset. Having worked in a number of big corporates I can assure you he won’t be the only psycho with an inflated sense of self-importance.

No company anywhere provided private jets to employees on £70k.

What OP has written makes no sense. Either OP is not sharing the whole story or she has her wires crossed.

I think the OP is concerned that someone in a personal relationship with Walter is being misled about his credentials and lifestyle. That person may make decisions based on the story they are being told that they wouldn't have made if they didn't think Walter was a highly educated professional.

Can you look at the company’s website or ring and ask to speak to him? If they say there’s no one there with that name, you will know (if they do put you through, hang up!).

He sounds like a fantasist. I have known a few people who puff up their lives. On the whole it is to make themselves feel better.

Apart from it being intensely annoying is Walter doing any harm with his lies? Is he attempting to drag others into his fantasy?

But you only asked Walter the question? As in, you didn't defame Walter by publicly deriding him? Ask him which uni he got his PhD and as you say, that's then a searchable document, usually via the uni library, as they're often obligated to keep copies of the PhDs.

Yes this has happened before and been used to con people but I also care because I’m at any opportunity put down due to my mid tier role, due to walter’s more successful role. The quals are entirely fictional and only a recent development in the delusion. But yes I get dragged in, and being warned to not speak to anyone at the company about him with thinly veiled threats at my house and my kids that I’ll be ‘taken down’ in a multi million £ law suit. It started because I know someone, who knows someone who works at the company in question and mentioned this and the bam what do you know lawsuit

oh he’d say, he’s prepared to buckle down. It started because yeah I called BS on his quals and actually know through a friend of a friend someone who actually does work there

Yes, exactly this and it wouldn’t be the first time. You wouldn’t believe the illustrious career Walt has had, it’s so diverse, almost like it’s unreal 😀

I think the main thing to be done in this situation is to stop letting Walter get up your nose so much, and possibly to see much, much less of him, like maybe none.

Walter is a sad, sad individual who hates himself. Can you see that? That's why he has to put you down. Don't take him seriously and don't argue with him. "Sure, Walter. Whatever you say. Good for you."

Walter sounds as though he's away with the fairies. Surely your friend of a friend can confirm what position he has at the company?