Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Fake Resume

Laws are usually written to address the harm done or the attempt to do harm. I can sit at my computer and write fake resumes for myself all day long, including ones describing how I saved Bill Clinton from impeachment and how I counsel George Bush every day about the treatment of the internees at Guantanamo. As long as I keep them to myself, or just show them to my friends for a good laugh, there is nothing illegal.

So, if a contractor presents a fake resume to a prospective client, and the client hires him in reliance on the fake resume, and the contractor does an excellent job and everyone is happy, has a fraud been committed? Possibly. Can the client sue successfully? Almost certainly not, because an element of civil fraud is that the victim suffered harm.

On the other hand, there is undoubtedly a provision somewhere in the Business & Professions Code that criminalizes a contractor's presentation or use of falsified credentials with the intent to deceive a prospective client. I do not know the citation, but there must be such a law, and as a criminal law, it would be enforced through the criminal justice system, meaning the DA would bring the charges upon a complaint from a citizen through the police, or possibly based on the DA's own investigation.

There is probably also an administrative provision in the CSLB regulations that would allow the CSLB to bring an administrative action to discipline the contractor, possibly including suspension or revocation of his license. Such an action could begin with a citizen complaint.

In sum, the laws would require an intent to deceive for a criminal or administrative action, and damage in order to have a valid civil case. It takes more than just writing the fake resume; it's what the faker does with it that determines the consequences.

Re: Fake Resume

I would only add to Mr. Whipple's statement that illegal or not once an employer finds out that you have falsified a resume they can terminate you for this falsification.