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F423.SBE
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1996-08-23
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2KB
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44 lines
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│CATCH-22 FOR EMPLOYERS: GIVING REFERENCES│
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
As an employer, you may find yourself between a rock and a
hard place when a former employee lists your firm as an
employment reference, especially if you have had a negative
employment relationship with the former employee. Because
most employers are quite aware of the risks of getting sued
by the ex-employee if they pass along negative information
to his or her prospective new employer, many firms take a
"name, rank and serial number only" approach to this risky
situation, divulging only job titles and dates of employment.
Unfortunately, there have also been lawsuits in recent years
by employers against the former employer of a troublesome
worker, for failure to divulge informations, such as a suit
against Allstate Insurance by a company that hired a former
Allstate employee, claiming that Allstate had concealed the
violent nature of the former employee, and alleging that
Allstate had written a misleading letter, stating that the
employee had been let go as part of a general corporate
restructuring, without mentioning the employee had been
fired after coming to work with a gun. The employee wound
up shooting five co-workers in the company cafeteria of the
his employer, Fireman's Fund, which brought the suit against
the former employer, Allstate.
Thus, as an employer, be aware that you will have to walk
a very narrow line when asked for a job reference. If you
divulge negative information that can be questioned by the
employee, the employee may sue you; if you conceal such
facts, the new employer may sue you.
@CODE: AK AZ CA OR UT CO NM WY ID SD KS OK LA GA SC FL TN IL IN OH MI WS ME MD
Fortunately, some 24 states have recently enacted various
forms of legislation that that now give employers more
protection against employee lawsuits for divulging damaging
information or providing unflattering job references.
@STATE is one of the states which has done so.
@CODE:OF