If a supervisor shares with co-workers why you were not promoted is this considered discrimination?

Question

A supervisor shared with at least 3 co-workers why a person did not receive a promotion. Could you go after this person for confidentiality issues or is there more you could do?

I live in Pittsburgh, PA

Wow I guess I need to put a little background on here.. I am NOT the person who was looked over. I am on of the people she told why she didnt hire the girl. I have no malice in this situation as it was my position she was taking on due to my promotion. Discrimination I guess was the wrong word. I guess I needed to use Defamation of Charcter. I am not the person who didn't get the job just interested to know if this was handled correctly

Also I have spoken to our HR rep and she did state our company has a Defamation policy so Barry I believe you may have jumped the gun thinking this was crazy

Answer 1

Puh-leeze.

The 2 posters above me have obviously never been a hiring manager.

If the reason was that you were otherwise qualified, but were turned down because of your race, color, gender etc. and someplace sexual orientation, then we can START to talk about possible discrimination.

I know you are disappointed you didn't get the job, but this is no way to react if you want to make a good impression and stay there for another promotion opportunity.

Since you are tossing around accusations without even saying what you claim to be the evidence, I am extremely skeptical and suspect the manager made a good call.

Remember this: You are hired "at will" which means you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all any time, and you can quit for any reason or no reason at any time at all.

Unless you can make a good case for discrimination under the law.

But of course a manager can discuss why someone didn't get a job internally. It may not be wise to do so, but absent any specific malice, making those decisions about informing and motivating people is part of a manager's job.

Answer 2

OK, to address discrimination first.

MOST discrimination is perfectly legal. If I choose to discriminate against Steelers fans, or against people who are no good at their jobs, the individual has no recourse. If she was discriminated against for an illegal reason - race, gender or age if over 40 are illegal discrimination in all States, religion, family status and sexual orientation are illegal discrimination in some - she has recourse.

Now, defamation.

Defamation, first of all, MUST be untrue. Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. "We didn't promote her because she's late once or twice a week" isn't defamatory if the woman actually IS late once or twice a week. Also, opinions are not defamatory. "We didn't promote her because we don't think she's smart enough." isn't defamatory.

In general a defamatory statement must be a knowingly false statement of fact. "She's a thief" is defamatory if the utterer knows that she's not. It *may* also be defamatory if the utterer is reckless in saying it without checking. (By the way, "In my opinion, she's a thief" doesn't turn the accusation into an opinion and thus non-defamatory.

So, whether or not telling you why she didn't get your job was defamatory is totally dependant on what the reason was.

Richard

Answer 3

No, definitely not discrimination, unless this person was discriminated against by not being promoted. It all pretty much depends on the reasons the person wasn't promoted, what was said to other co-workers, and what the actual truth is.

Answer 4

Defamation not discrimination.

Answer 5

It could be considered defamation of character which is why most employers are admonished not to share this kind of information.