Defamation Of Character/Slander

A little yes than a year ago, I left a job at a surgeons office to go to work for an insurance company. I gave the doctors office a notice of two weeks, however, when they had not found someone to replace me, I was asked by my office manager if I could stay a little longer. I ended up working a month and half notice. My employment there was excellent. Never late for work or frequently absent. I enjoyed my job but I wanted to get a broader spectrum of what goes on behind the scenes in the medical field.

After taking a job with the insurance company in June of 2000, I quickly began to realize how much I missed working with patients in face to face situations. I started distributing my resume to several different prospects and I received an offer from the company I had set my hopes upon. The Human Resource representative with the prospective employer needed to contact references in order to verify my resume and then advised me if everything went well with that, she wanted to make me an offer.

She had no trouble obtaining a reference from my current employer, however, when she called the doctors office, they told her I was a great employee, I was reliable, but that I had told them "I hated working with patients." Since the new job would be working with patients, the Human Resource Representative was reluctant about giving me the position. I did convince her that this statement was untrue and that I had never said this. Ultimately, I did get the job. However, I want to know what my legal rights are to pursue this situation?

From my understanding, a conversation between a prospective employer and a former/current employer should be no more than a "yes" "no" conversation. I'm sure that the laws are different from state to state. (I live in North Carolina) I have always heard that former employers are only allowed to verify your dates of employment and they can tell them if they would hire you back. Can you give me advise on this situation?

People are people and unfortunately the human factor is still in the reference process. The law states that only title, dates of employment are permitted to be spoken in the reference process but in the real world someone will ask if there were any "problems" with a specific person or if they showed up late etc. Little miss in personnel who feels no power reels her ugly head when asked questions like this and it is HER time to shine. The field is wide open to discussion. Unless the person asking the questions is being paid by you to check references and can be used to sue the other party, it only goes into the ear of the listener. You can retain an attorney and have he or she draft a letter that you will sue if anything beyond time and dates of employment are spoken. It worked for me and it will for you. The worry will be turned into an employment nighmare for them.