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A good friend of mine has found a new job but hasn’t started yet, but he knows an ex colleague he got on reasonably well with also works there, but this ex colleague knows my friend was let go from his role (it was 3 years ago)

Would his job be at risk if the ex colleague informed HR or his line manager?

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    Did this role come up during the interview / was it on his resume? Did he lie about it to the people who made the decision to hire him? – Keiki Jun 7 '18 at 19:08
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    See also: I got a job offer, but I lied about a few months on my current work history. Yes, both of those are about faking work experience, not lying about getting fired, but lies are lies. Assuming lies were involved, otherwise the question doesn't make much sense (since getting fired isn't some sort of career-ender that will mean you'll be shunned by everyone who ever finds out). – Bernhard Barker Jun 7 '18 at 19:39
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    As well as telling us if he lied about the job he was let go from, does 'let go' mean fired with cause, or let go for economic reasons, or something else? – DJClayworth Jun 7 '18 at 20:55
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    @Captain_Custard Has your "friend" lied about the job in the resume or the application? The suggested duplicates and the answers seem to think so, but I don't see it mentioned anywhere in your question. Could you please clarify why exactly you suspect your "friend" is at risk of losing the offer? – Masked Man Jun 8 '18 at 1:23
  • A lot of that depends on why he was "let go from his role". If it was downsizing, that's one thing. If it was theft of company property, or punching a manager's nose. that's quite another. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jun 8 '18 at 7:00
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Typically job offers are contingent on providing up-to-date, accurate information regarding previous employment (read: they should already know). If your friend was asked about his reason for leaving that position and he lied, then yes, he could lose the job. Assuming he filled out the pre-hire paperwork accurately and he's already passed his background check, he should be fine.

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There is two ways this could put your friend’s job at risk.

If this person provides information to the company which contradicts the reasons your friend gave his previous job ending it could set off a red flag in the company.

If the person provides the company damming information about your friend’s performance while at his previous job then the company may think twice about hiring him.

There isn’t much you friend can do. Any attempt at damage limitation would look very odd to the hiring company.

This situation is not unusual. HR and hiring managers often ask around their network of contacts about people they may hire. In this case you just happen to know the name of someone they may talk to. This is why you should always be honest when interviewing and do you best not to give people reasons to say bad about you in the future.

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