How Can Employers Recognize Fake Vaccine Cards?

As more businesses are requiring their employees to be vaccinated in order to return to the workplace, they continue to face vaccine card fraud by workers.

"Similar to fake IDs used by underage students to obtain alcohol, the Internet seems to have spawned a cottage industry marketing bogus cards," said Kevin Troutman, an attorney with Fisher Phillips in Houston. Fake vaccination documents can be purchased through a variety of social media sites and other Internet platforms, he said.

FEATURED RESOURCE PAGE

COVID-19 Vaccination Resources

Forty-one percent of employers have a vaccine mandate or regular testing requirement this year, up from 21 percent last year, according to a recent survey from employment law firm Littler, headquartered in San Francisco.

Federal law does not prohibit employers from requiring employees to show proof that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Employers that want to ask employees about their vaccination status should make inquiries in a targeted way, so employees don't disclose disability-related information. Employers with a vaccine mandate must offer reasonable accommodations for some employees who have a disability or a religious belief against the receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Recent Cases

In April, a Long Island high school teacher was charged with submitting a fake vaccine card to her employer. She pleaded not guilty to the felony and misdemeanor charges.

In October 2021, the National Hockey League suspended San Jose Sharks player Evander Kane for using a fake vaccine card.  

In August 2021, a New Jersey woman was arrested after allegedly selling hundreds of fake vaccine cards on Instagram for $200 each, Troutman noted.

Some employees are making homemade versions of vaccine cards.  

Forging federal government seals, such as that of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found on official vaccination cards, is illegal, with violations ranging from a fine of up to $5,000 or up to five years imprisonment. Many state laws also prohibit such activity, Troutman noted.

Tips for Detecting Whether a Card Is Fake

To determine whether a vaccine card is fake, Troutman recommended looking for:

The absence of information called for on the CDC vaccination record card, such as the manufacturer lot number, date and identification of the vaccine provider.

• Misspellings.
• Inconsistent dates.
• The name of an unfamiliar manufacturer or provider.
• Thin-cut paper rather than a card.
• A card that appears to have been cut with scissors.
• A card that has been fully printed, instead of at least partially handwritten.
  

Confirm that the name and birth date match the information the employer has on file for the employee, recommended Carolyn Pellegrini, an attorney with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr in Philadelphia. "If the employee received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, confirm that the time that elapsed between the first and second doses makes sense based on CDC guidance," she said.

"The vaccine lot numbers that appear on the vaccine cards can be used to confirm that the cards are valid," Pellegrini added. "That, however, is administratively burdensome for most employers, or it may be cost-prohibitive to engage a third party to conduct the confirmation."

[SHRM members-only Express Request: Tips for Spotting a Fake Vaccine Card]

Discuss concerns with the employee who presented the potentially fake card and give the worker a chance to explain discrepancies, Troutman said.

"A drugstore or other vaccine provider will not provide information to the employer because it is confidential medical information," Pellegrini said.

Discipline

An employer that confirms an employee has presented a fake vaccine card should discipline the employee, Pellegrini said. "It is up to employers to determine the level of discipline," she noted. "However, employers are treating these issues seriously and, in some cases, terminating employees.

"Employers who threaten disciplinary action for fake vaccine cards must follow through in the event they become aware of a fake card," she added. "A policy without follow-through devalues the policy."

Moreover, employees who commit vaccine card fraud are circumventing workplace safety procedures, said Christine Bestor Townsend, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Milwaukee and Chicago.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted, everyone in a workplace, from front-line employees to upper management, shares responsibility for keeping each other safe," said Andrew Sherrod of Hirschler in Richmond, Va.

"Trust is—and always has been—another key driver in maintaining a positive culture with a company," he said. "So as vaccinations become more prevalent and companies are able to bring more employees back together in person, that trust and spirit of common purpose must continue. If an employee breaches that trust by lying about a vaccination, there must be consequences to ensure the company values are maintained."

As a practical matter, whether a worker's lie about being vaccinated is material and warrants investigation and remedial action may depend on the employer's policy on vaccination, said J.T. Holt, an attorney with Reed Smith in Pittsburgh. For example, an employer may view a worker's misrepresentation about being vaccinated as more significant if the employer mandates vaccination, rather than merely encourages it.

Nonetheless, even if an employer only encourages vaccination, "an employee who lies about being vaccinated is more dangerous to co-workers than an employee who is not vaccinated, because it could likely lull other employees into a sense of safety," said Deborah Kelly, an attorney with Manatt in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

"Getting away with that lie could encourage that employee and other employees to be more lax in complying with workplace safety protocols," such as wearing masks, maintaining a safe distance and using antibacterial lotion, she noted.

Employers can consider reporting vaccine card fraud to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General at 1-800-HHS-TIPS or filing a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, Townsend noted.