Up To Some Funny Business

(I work in HR. Part of my job is doing job verifications. Most of the time they are very straight forward and often come in a form. I get a form to verify a past employee when I notice the dates that ‘John Doe’ is claiming. This company is only about three years old, so there is no way that ‘John Doe’ could have worked for us back in the late 1990s. I fill in the form stating that, no, ‘John Doe’ did not work for us for those dates and return to sender. Not too long afterwards, I get a call from the verifier, who is trying to understand why I am not confirming those dates.)

Me: “No, he couldn’t have worked here in the 90s. The company was founded in 2003.”

Woman: “Are you sure that he wasn’t an employee then?”

Me: “No, the company wasn’t in business.”

Woman: “Can’t you check with someone who was at the company in the 1990s?”

Me: “No, the company wasn’t in business yet.”

Woman: “Are you sure?”

Me: “Yes. John Doe might have meant another company with a similar name, but we were not in business.”

Woman: “Are you sure that no one was around at that time?”

Me: “I sure that much of our staff was alive, but no doubt working at other places then.”

Woman: “Are you positive that John Doe couldn’t have been working for you?”

Me: *sigh*