My question is if the company employees are telling non-employees (customers and job references) why I was fired and never told me, is a successful law suit possible?
2006-12-20 12:12:16 · 7 answers · asked by wallton30016 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
As long as you can document, or have those customers and job references testify that they are going around telling them why you were fired, you would have a case.
2006-12-20 12:15:50 · answer #1 · answered by jseah114 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Probably not.
To win a suit, you would need to establish:
1. What they are saying. You would need to get at least 3 solid witnesses that would document specifically what was said.
2. You would have to document that it is *untrue*. If everything that happened was at your old job, you might find it very difficult to prove it did not happen.
3. You would have to document significant financial harm to yourself. Did it prevent you from finding a job? (I don't mean maker it harder, I mean, impossible.) Why? How much do you make per month? How many months?
You can talk to a lawyer, but unless your income is really high, it will not be worth the lawyers time unless there is a lot of financial damage.
Also, they are not under any obligation to state why you were fired.
2006-12-20 13:18:29 · answer #2 · answered by Bryan J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sort of depends on the place you live.
In Virginia and DC there no employment contract so you can be let go for any reason. If you are not given a reason you can file for unemployment and then they will probably give you a reason cause most companies do not want to pay unemployment.
But when you have people calling for employment verification they are not allowed to tell them anything other than when you worked there and if you are eligible for rehire. If they say anything else negative it is slander.
2006-12-20 12:29:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
most states are "at will", meaning they don't have to give you an answer, but they do have to answer the unemployment office. If you are certain that they are telling others, get a friend, a recorder, a second phone line, and call and say that you (your friend is the employer) need a reference from them in regards to you. Sneaky, but it works. Then you have them by the rear. Good luck!
2006-12-20 13:15:58 · answer #4 · answered by Chris 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They don't have any obligation to tell you, in writing or otherwise, why you were fired.
Most of the time, companies won't give negative job references. Usually they'll just confirm dates of employment and job title.
2006-12-20 12:29:40 · answer #5 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The question here isn't whether they should or shouldn't have given you anything in writing - the question here is why they'd ever think it's ok to tell someone you were fired, and why. Depending on what they're saying and to whom you certainly have a lawsuit.
2006-12-20 12:22:13 · answer #6 · answered by playing_shy 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
all they are allowed to say is the dates of employment. if they are slandering you, then you should ask them to stop and seek legal counsel.
2006-12-20 12:23:04 · answer #7 · answered by anirbas 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋