ex-employer

[Starry809]

What is the name of your state? Washington state

left a company on good terms. Worked on and off for them for 18 years.

a general manager i was working for stated recently stated to me my past boss called her and another general manager, and stated "shes a hard worker but watch your back". my general manager never called this person, he called her several times (and another general manager I was working for) and volunteered this information, after hearing through the grape vine I was working there.
another general manager called me to get references on an employee that had worked for me last year. I gave a positive reference, yet the general manager stated the SAME general manager that had given me bad reference, gave this new prospective employee a bad reference as well. this prospective employee left on good terms as well.

can my past employer call current employers, and say "watch your back with her" without good reason?
I NEVER stole or did anything wrong against the company and was always a great employee.
when i went through training, it was drilled into my head to NEVER give bad reference, only allowed to state that they worked for me, dates etc.
( I recently found out this manager has done this to another ex-employee as well.

things seemed odd, when I applied for my SAME job title and was never called after reference check. It costs alot to train for my position, 8 weeks and alot of classes, and it seemed to me, financially smart to rehire me, especially since I have 18 years worth of excellent job records with this company . now im wondering if this man is stopping my rehire, for no reason other than bitterness.
If it is truely "wrong" what recourse do I have and how can I stop him from continuing?

 

[cbg]

If your current employer had taken negative action against you because of this phone call, then you MIGHT have been able to take action against him. It was NOT illegal for him to make that phone call; you might conceivably have been able to make a case against him for interference with your employment. Since nothing has happened to you, you have no damages.

He is entitled to state his opinion. The ONLY reason you might ever have had a case against him is because he's the one who placed the phone call. If your current employer had called him and he had made the exact same statement, you would have had no cause of action against him regardless of the outcome.

It may be company policy to give only dates of employment, job title etc., but it is NOT the law. NOTHING in the law makes it illegal to give a bad reference. NOTHING in the law makes it illegal for an employer to give their honest opinion.

NOTHING in the law requires them to rehire you unless you had a bona fide contract that guarantees that right.

 

[Starry809]

ok thank you.
I just thought it odd I was employed with my new employer for several months prior to my old manager calling, and now I am laid off. (replaced.)
seemed strange to me... but I appreciate the reply.

just doesnt seem fair. Now Im out a job and no matter where I go, hes gonna follow me.
and I did nothing wrong at all.
thanks

 

[Innocent-Damned]

ok thank you.
I just thought it odd I was employed with my new employer for several months prior to my old manager calling, and now I am laid off. (replaced.)
seemed strange to me... but I appreciate the reply.

just doesnt seem fair. Now Im out a job and no matter where I go, hes gonna follow me.
and I did nothing wrong at all.
thanks

I had someone do this to me also, for no reason. Seemed an "ex" of mine, had become friends with my formal employer & as things ended badly and she had the ear of "the powers that be" .... *sigh* .... Anyways, the best "cure" I was able to do, was either remove that place from my resume or have someone else I knew, listed as a reference (thus still keeping my record).

 

[cbg]

Starry809, tell me a little bit about the circumstances of your layoff.

 

[Starry809]

they hired a young man that had never been a manager before (he was a cook and server and made the comment "gee Id like to be a manager").
He had not taken the required 8 week management course, had not taken any of the 5 required courses, and had never been "in charge", knew nothing of the paperwork aspect etc.etc.
I was doing all the responsibilities required of me for management (admin, deposits, supervision etc).
He came in and ... well the way it was put was "we are putting you on hold for awhile, as he is taking the position and we have no position available for you"
the general manager told me daily what a great job I was doing, how lucky she was to have me there etc.
So here I sit. choice: go back to serving at a quarter the pay, or wait.
(there were also 2 other same owner stores looking for managers.)

 

[cbg]

Was the young man the nephew of the owner, son of a good friend, or in any way getting his foot in the door through nepotism?

 

[Starry809]

not as far as i know. he was just there at the right time.

 

[cbg]

I'm not happy about what happened to you but there is nothing in any of your posts that I can point to and say, there, that proves that you were treated illegally. There is no evidence that your layoff was connected to your previous employer's phone call or that your gender, race or age etc. played a part in it. Are there any other details you can provide me?

 

[Starry809]

no other details. sorry.
I guess Im out of luck on this one.
just ticks me off, because I left on "Good" terms. gave alot of verbal notice and 3 weeks written.
I only left because the past employer was "doing things" with the company money and supplies, had another person doing it with him (shes in management training now, believe that) and I didnt want to be caught in the middle of his mess when it "hit the fan" he also was involved in keeping bank money when the bank made an error.
i have an excellent employment record with this and all other employers and didnt want to tarnish it with a fire when the company finds out what hes doing.

so..I guess the answer to my question is :here I sit. unemployed and 6 kids.



Any ideas on how to get around this with future employers? I dont want to bad mouth my past employer, that never looks good on applications or in interviews, and I certainly dont want to tell them why I left this job (the real reason anyway), and I cant lie on an application and I certainly dont want to use him as a reference, as its obvious hes not going to be decent.

(the evil side of me wants to call the company heads and let them know what hes doing. but seems a bad karma thing to do)

thanks so much for all your replies.

 

[cbg]

Is there anyone else at that employer other than the boss that would speak for you? Someone in HR? A co-worker?

 

[Starry809]

Is there anyone else at that employer other than the boss that would speak for you? Someone in HR? A co-worker?

no one else in "in charge". he is the general manager. head of the place (except the owner, and owner lives in another state.

 

[stephenk]

i hope you are at least collecting unemployment.