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New to the board - Two Questions

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nicole33

Guest
What is the name of your state? Texas

My fiance worked for a company for over 2 years and had a promising career. He never got any negative comments on his job performance and based on this, he was given added job responsibilities. He was always taking work home and working on weekends to make sure he did the best job that he could.

My fiance worked with a trouble co-worker that created a negative work environment at his company. He would always come in late and would take 2-3 hour lunches. The bosses were upset that he would consistently miss his deadlines. Despite this frustration, they would not let him go.

This co-worker got into a verbal argument with my fiance's brother last week (who was contracting at the time). He used extreme vulgar language and threatened to hurt his brother over a comment that was made about how he should come to work earlier than he does.

My fiance jumped in and tried to stop the argument when the co-worker got "hot" and moved towards him like he was going to hit him. My fiance ended up shoving him back into a wall.

My fiance got fired for this incident. The owners of the company never saw the incident and never talked to my fiance's brother for his side of the story. The co-worker did not get fired for this.

Two questions:
1. Is there a legal recourse to get this co-worker fired for "provoking" the situation?
2. Can the owner's of the company tell potential employers about the situation or are they limited by law to only give out salary info, dates of employment and if he is eligible for rehire?
 


StacyLB

Member
It was absolutely legal to fire your fiance. There was a verbal argument, but until your fiance stepped in it was just that, verbal. From your description, your fiance is the one that took it to the physical level (justified or otherwise). He has no right or recourse to have the other employee fired. That is up to the organization to decide.

As to type of reference, that again, is up to the organization. If his work history is as you describe, they may well choose to leave that out of references; however, you fiance will have to disclose on applications that he was terminated.

No matter how right you are in situations, you immediately make yourself wrong when you touch another person. It's unfortunate that your fiance is learning this the hard way. Best of luck to your fiance in his job search!
 

Beth3

Senior Member
1. Not that I can see. For one thing, there isn't anything you or anyone else can do that would require the employer to fire this guy. That is ENTIRELY up to them.

2. Yes, the employer may disclose the circumstances of your fiance's termination when contacted for a reference. The only thing the employer may not do is provide factually untrue information. There are no statutes which limit anything an employer can say in a referece. There is some case law that makes an employer liable if they tell flat-out lies about an ex/employee.

Many employers have adopted a "zero tolerance" policy towards violence and threats of violence in the workplace. In many instances employers consider the circumstances virtually irrelevant as to what provoked a physical assault at work. I do think legitimate self-defense is something that has to be considered in some situations PROVIDED retreat wasn't an option. Too bad your fiance and his brother didn't just turn around and walk away from this one.
 
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nicole33

Guest
Referrals

It is unfortunate that they didn't walk away and it is a lesson learned!

The main concern now is the references. I use to work for a temp service back in the early nineties and I remember I was forbidden to disclose any information about the employee other than the dates of hire, salary and if they were eligible for rehire. Did this change?
 

Beth3

Senior Member
Nicole, you're talking about company policy vs. employment law. There were never any laws that restricted what information a company may provide during a reference. Some companies have a policy to limit the information they will provide when asked for a reference.

FYI - most States have passed "hold harmless" referencing statutes in recent years which expressly hold the employer not liable for providing references in good faith. That is, that the information they're sharing is factual and what they believe to be the truth. That includes offering their honest opinion about an employee's performance both good and bad.

The best thing your fiance can do when interviewing is to be candid about the circumstances of his departure and basically say he learned his lesson and should a situation like this ever arise again, he knows now to walk away and seek help from management. The circumstances you describe are understandable - he made a bad error in judgement but not necessarily a fatal one career-wise speaking.
 

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