if an employeer called me for a reference for someone i knew and i told the truth that that person was not a good worker or did not get along with others well etc. could i be sued for telling the truth. if i went to court to fight the law suit and lied i could be fined or sent to jail or both and if i tell the truth i will be sued. how could this be? thank you and have a nice day.
2007-01-10 01:20:38 · 7 answers · asked by merrilllw 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
You could easily get in trouble for this. Not because you are not telling the truth, but because the same people who are troublemaking employees would generally not hesitate to sue and force you to expend lots of legal fees, trying to extort a settlement out of you.
It's a complicated situation. Many employers just confirm employment and say there is a policy of not giving any recommendations for anyone. A shame, since it penalizes the good employees! But anything else can be a hassle.
This is just a basic reaction. Please consult an employment law handbook or, better yet, an attorney. Or, if your business carries insurance, ask the insurance agent for advice and/or a law contact.
All I can say is be very careful, whatever you do. Good luck.
2007-01-10 01:29:05 · answer #1 · answered by American citizen and taxpayer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends if you say that in an inflammatory way and it gets back to the employee. Put nothing in writing and keep your verbal contact factual and use the long silence and "I'd rather not say" instead of ranting about how poor an employee he was. How could it be? You can be sued for slander, and libel and if it rises to that, you have overdone it. If you missed funds and he was never given the chance to prove or disprove, you are in essence being unfair. If he was fired because he didn't fit in, what guarantee do you have that he wouldn't fit in at a new place, and if he were just an ordinary poor worker, maybe a different management technique or the loss of one job made him reevaluate his work habits. Why would you want to ruin his prospects for years?
2007-01-10 09:30:13 · answer #2 · answered by justa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not against the law. You have the right to say it if it is true. However, you had better be prepared to defend it and prove it because the person can sue for damages and defamation of character. You will not go to jail no matter what because it is not a criminal issue, it is a civil one and money and the time in court is only thing you can lose.
2007-01-10 09:43:10 · answer #3 · answered by PRS 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is against the law to give a bad reference, if you don't have positive things to say you just tell the person calling you have no comment on the employee, they will get the hint.
2007-01-10 09:29:15 · answer #4 · answered by Shadow Kat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I quit a mean boss without notice and he refused to talk about me when anyone called for a reference. So the new employer suspected the worse. I didn't work in the same field again. How about that for ruining a life.
2007-01-10 09:35:00 · answer #5 · answered by anya_mystica 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would suggest that you do not provide your opinion.
Simply provide verifiable facts that are only related to work performance. For example we expect an employee to produce X per day and this employee produced Y. The employee was counseled n times for y. The employees absentee rate was ?
2007-01-10 09:33:31 · answer #6 · answered by Mn 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if the employer is following the law, the potential employee should never know about the reference
i mean if they know you're going to give them a bad reference, why put you down as one?
2007-01-10 09:28:46 · answer #7 · answered by thuglife 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋