Wrongful Termination & Bad References

[ljl069]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

There is a company where I worked for 7.5 years. Everything was fine for about the first 5 years. I received regular promotions and pay increases, and had not been reprimanded. Then they rehired someone that I previously had a personal relationship with, and everything started falling apart. He began harassing me on the job, and it became impossible to avoid him because he was hired into a higher position within my department, and had known my boss for years. He proceeded to make me look bad to my boss, which resulted in my receiving the only reprimand since my employment with them. There was also other people involved in the harassment. This went back and forth until I was called into the office one day in 2002, and told that I had threatened to do something and that weather I had done anything or not, I was terminated. I denied this vehemently then, and still do now. When I went to collect unemployment after this, I was told that the employer was contesting it, and that there had to be a hearing. I went through the hearing process, and the company failed to produce any evidence of any wrongdoing on my part. I was able to collect the unemployment that I was due, but I really wanted reinstatement, as this was a very good paying job. Ever since then, I have been unable to gain employment in my field, and I have reason to believe it is because this company is wrongfully giving me a bad reference. How do I go about getting a copy of the references and/or personnel files they're putting out about me, and taking action against them? Additionally, this company went as far as to threaten the jobs of any other employees that stood up for me. I have lost contact with most everyone I worked with, mostly because the ones who were my friends were afraid for their jobs, and some of the others believed that I actually did what I was accused of. Ever since this happened, I have been stuck taking little dead-end jobs, like fast food work, instead of the electronic & computer engineering work I went to school for, and worked hard to get. Please help.

 

[cbg]

First of all, a wrongful termination does not mean one that is unfair, a voilation of company policy, or even that you were fired for something you didn't do. A wrongful termination means that you were fired for a reason specifically prohibited by law. Receiving UI benefits does NOT mean that you were wrongfully terminated; the vast majority of people collecting UI were legally terminated.

The state of CT does allow you to view your personnel file. That does NOT mean getting copies of references that were provided, and it's likely that any references were not put on paper anyway; most companies do not want to see a paper reference - they want to talk to someone of whom they can ask questions. References are almost always considered exempt from employee view. Additionally, bad references are NOT illegal if they are true, the empooyer genuinely believes them to be true, or they represent the honest opinion of the employer. But I have a question for you, which has a direct bearing on what, if any, legal action you can take.

What reason do you have for believing that they are giving a poor reference? Are you not getting called for interviews? Or are you being called for interviews, given every reason to believe that the job is yours (NOT that you are still a viable candidate, but that it's all over bar the shouting and that you have been selected as the successful candidate or are one of no more than three on a short list) , and then being told that they've gone another way? If the latter, how many times has this happened?

 

[ljl069]

Hi,
Thank you for your advice. According to my understanding of the UI rules (which may be wrong), I was allowed to collect my full UI because I was able to prove to the state's satisfaction that I was in thew clear, that I had done nothing wrong, and the employer was unable to provide any evidence that I had violated policy or anything else wrong. I feel that I was wrongfully terminated.

As far as the personnel files and references go, if I request a copy of my personnel file, do they have to give it to me freely? Shortly after this happened, they changed company policy to state that references would only be provided to prospective employers in paper form, and they had to be requested via letter. So as far as I know, they no longer provide phone or verbal references.

I think that they are providing illegal bad references for me because I have applied for many jobs in the years since this happened. Mostly, I don't get an interview. I have had numerous interviews for different departments with a large employer in my area, and was even told I was hired for one position, then hours later told that I was not. I have had numerous other interviews where I was told I was on the short list, and to just wait for them to finish the process, and then told that they hired someone else. I have gone from a job making $17.00 per hour to being forced to work for minimum wage, which barely pays the rent. What should I do?

 

[cbg]

You can feel that you were wrongfully terminated all you want, but unless there is a specific law that prohibits the employer from firing you for the reason he did (and by your post there is not) you were not wrongfully terminated under the law. It takes a great deal more than prevailing in an unemployment claim to prove wrongful termination. There is, in fact, no correlation between the legality of the termination and receiving UI benefits. The fact that you received UI means that you were not termed for a reason that disqualifies you for benefits. That is all it means. It does NOT mean that there was anything illegal about the termination. If you thought otherwise, then you were wrong.

In your state, yes, you can make a request to view your personnel file. You will need to make an appointment to go in and view them. After that time, you can specify what documents you want a copy of and they will make you a copy of those documents. You CAN be charged for the cost of copying. DO NOT expect that you will be given access to or copies of any references, even if they are on paper. References are considered confidential.

However, you should be aware that employers do NOT contact references prior to an interview. It is about a 100% guarantee that for those jobs to which you are not granted an interview, the decision not to interview you is based on your application alone, NOT on references. NO employer has the time or the resources to contact references until after they have conducted the interviews and decided on their top candidates. It simply does not happen. You can rest assured, coming from someone who has conducted many a reference check and made multiple hiring decisions, that if you didn't get an interview, your former employer had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

If you are on the short list, that means that at least one and possibly more people are also. That means there is at least a 50% chance if not higher, for each of those jobs, that someone other than you is going to get the job. Unemployment is very, very high right now and there are many qualified applicants for any given job.

For the job that you were told you had, and then it was withdrawn, what reason was given to you?

 

[ljl069]

No, I was not given any real reason for the withdrawal. I was told at the interview that I was hired, and that HR would be in contact to do all the paperwork, arrange any pre-employment health screenings and get uniforms. I got home, checked my email, and received a notice from the employer's automated system stating that they were sorry and I hadn't been selected. I contacted their HR office, and the rep told me that she was confused, that there must be some mistake and she would find out what was going on and call me back. After about 3 days of phone calls and leaving messages, I finally get in touch with the rep, and she says that the decision came from upper management. I met the person who was to be my direct supervisor and the department head at the interview, and both of them seemed pleased and impressed with my level of experience, and they had both decided by the end of the interview that I was the one. This was the second interview for this position. So far, I have received 6 first interviews and 2 second interviews with this employer, for positions in various departments. If references are supposed to be considered confidential, then how do I find out what they're saying, and refute it if necessary? If they're lying about me, I should be able to stop them. Or do companies have the right to lie about someone, and they're powerless to do anything about it? There is a lot more to the story, but I'm not sure I should post something so lengthy here. It's a pretty long, convoluted story, and there's much more that happened that is questionable that is why I think they've been blacklisting me. I can go into more detail if you need. Thanks again.

 

[cbg]

You can ask a trusted friend to call and request a reference, or you can hire a reference checking service. I have to tell you, from what you have posted, I think the chances are pretty slim that "bad references" are responsible for anything except POSSIBLY the one instance, and as I said before, bad references themselves are not inherently illegal.

If you find that they are saying something like, "We were not satisfied with the job ljl069 did on the Johnson account," there is pretty much nothing you can do about it. They are allowed to hold that opinion, and they are allowed to express that opinion. (Before you ask, it is a myth that employers are limited to dates of employment and job title - in all 50 states they are allowed to provide truthful information about the employee, his performance, his work ethic, his attendance, his disciplinary record, and the reason his employment ended, among other things.) Even if the Johnsons' think you walk on water, if the employer disagrees, they may say so. (Although if that is the case, you might want to ask the Johnsons to provide a reference - and that is a serious suggestion, not sarcasm.)

If, on the other hand, you find that they are saying, "ljl069 was fired for stealing", that may well be actionable.

But as I said, I think you are placing far too much weight on your failure to be hired on an as yet to be established history of "bad references". You might want to spread out your applications instead of focusing so much on just this one.