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Resigned from job and continue to receive false/inaccurate references from employer

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Bill Smith

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? TN

I resigned from my job about six months ago and I continue to receive false/inaccurate reference from my previous employer. I have copies of my employee evaluations which all have good ratings on them. I had around twenty interviews with very large advertising companies while I was still employed at my previous employer. I called and sent emails to these advertising companies to do follow-ups but they never responded back. After I resigned I applied to a university only to learn that he gave me a false reference and cost me a $25,000 yearly income increase. The person hiring at the university implied that I was going to be hired but because of the bad reference it cost me the job.

I believe that during the entire 4 years I was employed there he was continually giving me a bad reference just to keep me there! I say this because he went through over 20 employees during those years and kept his company small to avoid following state and federal laws. My question is how can I get a job with him continually doing this! I have applied to janitor positions and I can't get a job! I have never had any problems with any of my previous employers until this butthole! So, is there any legal ground for me to stand on? I have been to a lawyer but he told me unless the employer called me a drug addict, dope head, etc I couldn't do anything!!
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
The former employer is free to express his opinion.
You are free to NOT list him as a reference.
 

Bill Smith

Junior Member
So, you mean to tell me he is free to express false statements about me such as work ethics, etc.?!??! He is a previous employer and they (potential employers) call him for a work reference. HE is by no means a reference on my resume, but instead his company, if you want to call it that, is listed in my job history.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
So, you mean to tell me he is free to express false statements about me such as work ethics, etc.?!??!
"Work Ethics" are based on opinions. So far, you haven't posted anything wrong that he's done, other than to express his opinion.
If he said "x-employee would alter his time sheets to show more work being done than was actually done"...it would be a problem. If he said "x-employee never seemed to work as hard as he should have"...that's an opinion.
If you can give specific examples of what you know he has said, it might help to explain things better.
 

Bill Smith

Junior Member
There are alot of things he did such as working employees off the clock, altering my time sheet for vacation time, and altering government documents . According to Tennessee state law unless he has 8 employees he is exempt from state law because he only has 4 employees and is exempt from following federal law which requires 15 employees. This was explained to me by legal council, which I paid for after my resignation.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
None of which has anything to do with the references they are providing.

If you want an opinion as to whether he is violating any laws with his reference, you are going to have to provide examples of what he is saying.
 

Hot Topic

Senior Member
So, your employer was okay with you spending company time to look for another job? Strange that he would be so accommodating, only to shoot you down with a bad reference.
 

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