A previous employer does not allow employees to give job recommendations for former employees. Is this legal?

Question

A former employer restricts current employees from giving job recommendations for former employees. I have a number listed as references as I worked at the firm for over 12 years. Is this restriction legal under Texas and Federal employment law? Doesn't this restriction violate my ability to market myself to prospective employers and what are my options short of a civil suit?

Answer 1

Not only is it legal, it's smart. Most companies will only verify dates of employment and positions held. Any more and they could subject themselves to civil suit. If they say the ex-employee was terrible, the ex-employee could sue. If they say the ex-employee was fantastic and the new employer hires based on that recommendation, and the employee turns out to be a lemon, the new employer could sue. Thank the trial lawyers.

Answer 2

Yes, for an employer to do otherwise would be illegal, as a result of an Act of Congress. The "1997 Act Prohibiting Employers From Allowing Current Employees to Give Recommendations to Previous Employees" was signed into law by President Bill Clinton at a July 17, 1997 Rose Garden ceremony. The Act mandates severe criminal penalties for employers who are convicted of allowing their employees to give either references or recommendations on behalf of previous employees.

This Act was tested in a 1999 case which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case dealt with a Mr. Heywood Jablowme, then manager of a drive-in yogurt stand in Walla Walla, Washington. Mr. Jablowme was convicted of allowing one of his employees, a Miss Dixie Lou Schlabotnik, to give a recommendation to a previous employee, a Miss Tequila Jalapeno. Jablowme was subsequently convicted in the Washington 27th Federal Circuit, and sentenced to three consecutive life terms without possibility of parole, a sentence which Jablowme appealed on constitutional grounds, but which the High Court unanimously upheld. Despite the fact that theU.S. Attorney prosecuted the case as a capital crime, the jury in the case did not recommend the death penalty. Jablowme is serving his sentence in solitary confinement at the Federal Supermax Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois.

Answer 3

Yes, it's legal. Almost everyplace I've worked will only give dates of employment. They will not give a reference. The best thing to do is to keep up your network and use other former employees as references.

Answer 4

Most employers today will only answer the question "Is this person eligible for rehire?" The privacy laws that exist today in most states can open a company up to lawsuits if they give information to others.

Answer 5

No, many employers designate only one person to give references.

Answer 6

Yes (and it sucks!)