Do I have to disclose that I received a warning at a former place of employment?

There's no wiggle room here. They want you to disclose warnings (etc.) from previous employers, you received one. Saying "no" is an overt lie, and hiding the warning will make you look 100% guilty if it's ever discovered. The conventional wisdom is that innocent people don't hide things, and if someone finds out about this warning a few months or years down the road, you're going to be in a bit of trouble. You wouldn't buy "I didn't think it applied" and neither are they. Imagine they find out in six months. The big risk for you is that it essentially makes your entire employment voidable because you were hired under false pretenses. Severance, vacation days, etc... gone. You could be out jobless with zero notice. It seems odd that such a minor thing would be an immediate disqualifier, too, unless there's more to the story than you're letting on, but that's beside the point. The question isn't "is this a warning I have to disclose" it's "should I lie about this warning I received in order to get a job." Which isn't really something anyone here can answer for you. If you want to analyze the risk, understand that there are a million ways they could find out about the warning, and most of them do not involve calling and asking. They hire someone else who knows about the warning, someone in management or HR is friends with someone from your old company, etc. The bottom line is that you're going to have to decide if you, personally, are willing to lie on your application to get the job, but there's really no question that they're asking you to disclose exactly what you're trying to avoid disclosing. For those wanting to get semantic about what a warning is, notice that the word "formal" modifies "discipline" and not "warning". The parentheses mean that a warning is just one example of "formal discipline".

Just say no. It's what they expect, what they'd want if you were representing them and just about to close an important deal. If you say yes, they'll just think you're stupid for shooting yourself in the foot. They're not really interested in the minutiae of what happened to you in previous jobs. Water under the bridge.

I'm a bit baffled by the idea that ever having received a formal warning would immediately disqualify you from a job without further consideration or discussion. It sounds more like they just want full disclosure from you, in general. You should say "yes," which is the truth, and then explain your side of things, with references, which is also the truth. Since the truth is on your side, you only have to worry if your firm is going to respond reasonably to a situation you are in. And if they're not going to be reasonable at the outset of your work experience, then that would be an early warning to not work there.

It sounds like from what you've quoted from the severance agreement and from what you say your former company's standard procedure is, the chances of the warning being disclosed are virtually nil. Plus the question asked of you is whether you received any formal discipline. I think you can make a credible claim that the matter was resolved in a manner that effectively voided any discipline you may have been given. While it certainly is a personal decision for you to make, if I were you, I wouldn't disclose it. However, if you do choose to disclose it, I think the wording suggested above by theora55 is ideal.

My settlement says the following: "The parties agree and acknowledge that the terms of this Agreement are confidential. Each party warrants that it or she will not individually, jointly, or through its or her attorneys or other representatives, or those acting on its or her behalf in any manner publish, publicize, or other make known to any person the fact of this Agreement and/or the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and the discussions that led up to it, except to its or her financial or tax advisors; and then only after said advisors have agreed to be bound by the provisions of this paragraph to make no futher disclosure." Does that count for not talking about the verbal warning? Because I cited the verbal warning in my complaint, which was what got me on this road to severance and resignation in the first place.

"'Excuse to fire you later' is ridiculous - if they like your work and need you, they won't use it against you. If they want to get rid of you, they will find a way." Unless two of the skills they want are honesty and trustworthiness, in which case you will likely be fired on the spot. If you're being hired as a cog in a big wheel, it probably won't matter. Then again, they could probably replace you pretty easily. If your job is one of any sort of importance or responsibility, lying on your employment app is a clear demonstration that you're not to be trusted. Even if they keep you, do you really think it won't impact your future promotion choices? "Hmm... between these two, one of them has a rep for being trustworthy, the other lied in his very first interaction with this company." Difficult choice. Further... if they're going to not hire you because you got a warning at a previous job, in what world would they not fire you for lying to them? Another reason not to lie on your application, and one it surprises me that so few MeFites seem care about, is... because it's lying. If you're okay with that, you might as well go ahead and make up some past jobs, bump your college GPA a bit, and give yourself some kind of prestigious award while you're at it. The only difference between those and this is the likelihood of discovery. The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out. -- Baron Thomas Babington Macauley

I don't have anything really specific for the question, but it seems strange that the new employer would even have access to this information. Companies are not in the habit of disclosing a former employee's record, by request or otherwise.

I do have a settlement agreement. I will have to look it up when I get home. I know it states something about confidentiality and the HR people and the manager I have had in the past both usually give answers like the company policy is only to give dates of employment.

Do you have a settlement agreement -- something you signed -- when you received your severance? Usually those state what the former employer will say if contacted by potential employers. Pull out the document and read it to see. Assuming that the severance agreement does not answer the question, I think this is one of those risk-benefit scenarios -- you're going to have to assume some risk because whatever you do will have some risk. Answering yes or "question mark" may lead to a long negative discussion that ends with no offer. Answering no may later be construed as a lie (if for some reason your employment with the new employer blows up and it starts looking for a reason to terminate you). In the short term, most former employers who are large enough to have HR departments and lawyers try to say as little as possible about former employees with whom they have had extended conflicts. In the long term, information about "lies" on application forms often comes out during litigation; the information is often not discovered before litigation. In litigation, lies on forms are often big themes with juries, with the employer's lawyer pounding away on lies.