Do I have to say I was FIRED?

[Rascal9065]

My jurisdiction is: Virginia, United States

State: Virginia

I have a long standing record of great performance and longevity with my previous employers. In an effort to take my career in a new direction I moved to Virginia to pursue high end employment opportunities and training that is not currently offered in my home state of California.

Having been hired sight unseen over the phone it was not surprising that the position was a bad cultural fit. Bad decisions were made by both parties and after 4 months I was fired for poor performance.

I am now actively seeking new employment, unfortunately, since I was fired from a high security risk position and this being such a bad economy the blip on my record is causing potential employers to turn me away.

I need to know.....

1) If called, are previous employers allowed to state that you were fired for poor performance?

2) Do potential employers have any way of finding out that I was fired?

3) The employment period was only 4 months, outside of having to explain the period of inactivity, am I allowed "by law" to omit it from my resume to avoid the questioning?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[jacksgal]

1) If called, are previous employers allowed to state that you were fired for poor performance?
Yes

2) Do potential employers have any way of finding out that I was fired?
Yes

3) The employment period was only 4 months, outside of having to explain the period of inactivity, am I allowed "by law" to omit it from my resume to avoid the questioning?

Yes but if found out you lied on your application you can be fired

 

[cbg]

Contrary to popular belief, the law does NOT prohibit employers from saying you were fired or giving the reason you were fired. It is 100% legal in all 50 states for an employer to say you were fired and to say why you were fired.

It is far, far easier than you might think for an employer to learn about your past job history. I"m sure you're thinking of something like a data base somewhere where they can look you up and get the disposition of any job in your history, and nothing like that exists. But that's not even close to the only way your job history can be revealed and sometimes your employer won't even be looking for it. For example, one time I was introduced to my new boss (just hired). My maiden name, which I was using at the time, is somewhat unusual and my new boss commented that he knew someone else by the same name. Turns out he was my father's next door neighbor.

Another time due to a series of mergers and spinoffs, my old boss at one company became my new boss at another.

A company I once worked for was a major vendor at a new job, and our company rep was my replacement, whom I had trained.

See what I mean? It's fantastically easy for your employer to learn things about you without even trying.

You will not be violating any laws if you omit this job, but if you do and are caught, that's grounds for immediate termination - it's called, falsification of your application.