Applying for Jobs After Turning in Expungement Paperwork

[undisclosed-]

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Ohio

In October 2010 I was convicted with a disorderly conduct minor misdemeanor (amended from obstructing official business) that I could have expunged after a year since I was a first offender (I have not had any run-ins with the law since, either). It slipped my mind until recently when I began looking for a new job and stumbled across the question asking if I’ve ever been convicted of or plead guilty to an offense other than a minor traffic violation (it specifies that I may exclude convictions that have been expunged). I am going to be applying for entry level positions at highly competitive companies, so a ‘Yes’ answer would very likely lead to me being passed over in favor of other applicants, despite me being otherwise well-qualified.

For this reason, I put off submitting any applications until I filled out the paperwork and paid the fee to get my case expunged. I have now gotten all of that taken care of, but it sounds like it could be up to 4 months before all of the paperwork goes through and it is officially expunged.

MY QUESTION IS: Do you guys think it would be ok for me to answer ‘no’ to the aforementioned application question now that I’ve put the expungement process in motion, or do I really have to wait the 4 months or so before it’s official? I’m in dire need of a new job and have come across some very promising openings so I’m anxious to start submitting applications ASAP, but I do not want to lower my chances at my top company picks by applying while I still have to answer ‘yes.’

I had an employment background check performed several months ago and nothing showed up on my record (I’ve read that minor misdemeanors don’t in Ohio), but any companies I apply to could of course still see my conviction if they checked directly with the municipal court (or by other means, I’m sure) before the expungement goes through. I’m hoping, though, that if that were to happen I could just explain that I’ve done everything needed on my end to get it expunged and the paperwork simply must not have gone through yet (i.e., the truth).

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any helpful answers from those of you who took the time to read what turned out to be quite a long post (sorry about that)!

[Mr. Knowitall]

There are serious, potentially long-term consequences to lying on an application for employment. For example, way down the road you may find yourself in a position to sue your employer, they then do an in-depth background check, discover the lie, and argue that you're not entitled to damages (or that your damages should be minimal) because you lied and would not have been hired had you told the truth. Or they do another screening at some point in the future, or stumble across information about your record, realize you lied and fire you. Or they find out before you get the job and word gets out within the interviewer's circle that you are applying for jobs and lying about your criminal history....

So I don't think too many people are going to say, "Go for it."

[Foster_Foster]

"Do you guys think it would be ok for me to answer ‘no’ to the aforementioned application question now that I’ve put the expungement process in motion, or do I really have to wait the 4 months or so before it’s official?"

What do you define as "ok"? Asking for strangers to validate a decision to lie on an application doesn't seem very productive. Certainly, you're free to do it; you just have to keep in mind that if they run a background check that they don't have to use the same service/databases that you did to check. Even if they don't, down the road if they figure out you lied, they can use that as a pretext for just about anything (not that the law requires any reason to fire you).

[Betty3]

If the application says that you can exclude convictions that have been expunged but your conviction has not been actually expunged as of yet, I don't think I would lie as if it was.

[undisclosed-]

Thank you for the responses. That is what I was expecting to hear... I'll wait until the expungement is official before applying to the companies that I believe would bypass me for having a conviction.