Ex-Employer Contacts local PD's

[gkisystems]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois/Wisconsin.

I received an odd letter from my former employer saying that I am ordered to not enter any company property or attempt any further contact with any employee (by telephone or otherwise). If I violate this order, I will be considered a trespasser and subject to arrest. Additionally, the letter was forwarded to various local police departments.

The only contact I've had included asking a friend if he wanted to go to lunch with me and what reason my old boss gave my co-workers as to why I wasn't working there anymore.

I'm particularly bothered by this threatening letter considering I've done nothing to warrant it. While I have no problem or any reason to be on company property, I'm especially bothered by it saying I'm ordered to not have any further contact with employees. Some of the people still employed by the company are my friends. If I did contact my friends, I would do it using their personal contact information (not work contact information).

1. Can the company order their former employee to be in compliance with their requests... specifically the part about not contacting my friends? If so, under what law?

2. Can the company be liable for slander/liable? I have no idea what they've told my former co-workers. Additionally, now I'm on every local police departments radars as a "bad guy."

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois/Wisconsin.

I received an odd letter from my former employer saying that I am ordered to not enter any company property or attempt any further contact with any employee (by telephone or otherwise). If I violate this order, I will be considered a trespasser and subject to arrest. Additionally, the letter was forwarded to various local police departments.

The only contact I've had included asking a friend if he wanted to go to lunch with me and what reason my old boss gave my co-workers as to why I wasn't working there anymore.

I'm particularly bothered by this threatening letter considering I've done nothing to warrant it. While I have no problem or any reason to be on company property, I'm especially bothered by it saying I'm ordered to not have any further contact with employees. Some of the people still employed by the company are my friends. If I did contact my friends, I would do it using their personal contact information (not work contact information).

1. Can the company order their former employee to be in compliance with their requests... specifically the part about not contacting my friends? If so, under what law?

2. Can the company be liable for slander/liable? I have no idea what they've told my former co-workers. Additionally, now I'm on every local police departments radars as a "bad guy."

**A: well are you a bad guy? What is the complete story here?

 

[gkisystems]

**A: well are you a bad guy? What is the complete story here?

No, not at all. I could certainly understand their concerns if I acted sinister, angry, or done anything to greatly upset/offend an old co-worker - however I haven't.

I'm wondering if this is just a general letter they send to everybody that they have recently laid off. The strange thing about it is that they contacted 6 local PD's (relative to my home address) to let them know. I would think that is time consuming to do that for everybody laid off.

 

[LeeHarveyBlotto]

They can cetainly ban you from any or all of their facilities. As far as contacting former co-workers, they can pound sand.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

My employer routinely sends no trespass letters to terminated employees. You have also been warned not to call your friends while they are at work.

There is nothing they can do to you if you contact your friends at home, but they can fire your friends for associating with you.

 

[gkisystems]

My employer routinely sends no trespass letters to terminated employees. You have also been warned not to call your friends while they are at work.

There is nothing they can do to you if you contact your friends at home, but they can fire your friends for associating with you.

Is there any guidance/laws/etc that you can give me regarding contacting my friends while they are at work, but on their personal cell phones? For example, what if I want to make lunch plans with a friend for any given day?

Also, do I need to be worried about having lunch at places that are commonly visited by employees?

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Is there any guidance/laws/etc that you can give me regarding contacting my friends while they are at work, but on their personal cell phones? For example, what if I want to make lunch plans with a friend for any given day?

Also, do I need to be worried about having lunch at places that are commonly visited by employees?

There is nothing they can do to you if you do not trespass on the former employer's property, or call their telephone number.

There is no way they can prevent you from eating at a restaurant that they do not own (or otherwise control).

I doubt there is anything they can do to you for calling your friend's cell phone, but they can certainly discipline your friend for making or taking personal phone calls on company time.

You should also refrain from sending email to your friends' company email.

 

[gkisystems]

IMHO, anybody looking at this letter from the company's global security manager would assume that I'm a "bad guy" and must have done something bad for the company to prohibit me from being on company property or contacting employees. After all, some employees that leave the company are re-hired (and therefore must be on company property while not actually employed at the time of their interviews).

Simply put, this communication implies I did something bad and therefore gives me a negative image. The employer also provided this letter to local PD's, but I consider this to be a private matter between the employer and I.

Has the employer:

1. Committed the tort of defamation of character or libel?
2. Violated privacy laws by disclosing information about me to local PD's?

 

[KJHOOK13]

Lay-off vs termination

You stated earlier on that this was a lay-off (which can mean you are subject to recall) right? Were others laid off at the same time, and if so, were letters such as this generated on their behalf?

If not, it sounds more like the company is treating this as a termination with cause, and perhaps they have some reason to believe you are a threat. I wouldn't think normal protocol for companies would be notifying local police departments for security purposes.

The fact that you had lunch with former colleagues attempting to find out how the company was explaining your absence gives cause to believe that something has been left out of the story...

 

[Mass_Shyster]

IMHO, anybody looking at this letter from the company's global security manager would assume that I'm a "bad guy"

Don't show it to anyone

Simply put, this communication implies I did something bad and therefore gives me a negative image.

That is an opinion, and requires reading something into the letter that was not written

The employer also provided this letter to local PD's, but I consider this to be a private matter between the employer and I.

Obviously the employer does not consider it to be a private matter

Has the employer:

1. Committed the tort of defamation of character or libel?

No. No false statement was made.

2. Violated privacy laws by disclosing information about me to local PD's?

The information was also about the employer. The employer does not want you to trespass.

To satisfy yourself, you could ask the police department how many of these letters were received. It may take a freedom of information request to get that from the PD.

 

[gkisystems]

You stated earlier on that this was a lay-off (which can mean you are subject to recall) right? Were others laid off at the same time, and if so, were letters such as this generated on their behalf?

If not, it sounds more like the company is treating this as a termination with cause, and perhaps they have some reason to believe you are a threat. I wouldn't think normal protocol for companies would be notifying local police departments for security purposes.

The fact that you had lunch with former colleagues attempting to find out how the company was explaining your absence gives cause to believe that something has been left out of the story...

Yes, the company told me verbally that my job was eliminated as part of a company-wide layoff. The paperwork they gave me supports their oral statement. For example, they provided me a list of all the positions and the ages of the people that were laid off and the ages of the people that were not as part of some labor law regarding older American workers.

I certainly do think something IS being left out of the story, but not by me, but by my employer. For instance, to my knowledge, they told me my position is being eliminated but at the same time they are hiring other people to fill that position. It just doesn't make sense to me. My only performance review was positive. I had no write-ups.

If I had to speculate, I'd say they axed me because I applied for FMLA and short-term disability benefits (company is self-insured for those benefits, so it comes right out of the bottom line for them). I was also missing a lot of time at work during normal business hours because I had medical appointments.

I did ask a co-worker/friend what explanation they gave for me losing my job and his explanation was consistant with what the company told me - bad economy = layoffs.

One additional interesting bit of information is that one of the local PD's contacted is in a small town about an hour drive north of my residence. The company has no business/property in that town and I live no place near it. I'm wondering if perhaps some employee I worked with lives there, but none that I know of. The whole thing just seems weird to me.

 

[KJHOOK13]

Ok--how did you find out about the notification letters sent to area PD's?


Secondly, have you communicated with other individuals that were laid off and determined if they were treated similarly?

How many years did you have with the company? Are you in a protected class? (Age, race, gender, ADA).

When you were laid off, did anything transpire with respect to your reaction or response that may have caused the company to feel you were a threat, i.e., did you spout off to them, or to other employees that might have carried tales back to the management, etc?

 

[CdwJava]

Unless the letter sent to the local police departments contained statements that were untrue, I don't see where libel exists. If the letters stated that Mr. Gkisystems is not permitted on our properties, that is perfectly acceptable.

They simply advised you that you were not welcome on their property and not to call their stores. I fail to see any form of libel in that. How has that injured you? Have the police begun to routinely sneer at you as they pass by your house? Have you been subject to extra police attention somehow? Police departments get these sorts of notifications by phone, fax and mail with some regularity. How much effect they have, legally, depends upon state law.

- Carl

 

[gkisystems]

Ok--how did you find out about the notification letters sent to area PD's?

The letter they sent me said so. It also had a "CC" at the bottom. I even called one of the PD's and they confirmed that they got the letter too but didn't have any additional information (at least no additional information that they were willing to give me).

Secondly, have you communicated with other individuals that were laid off and determined if they were treated similarly?

No. This particular round of lay-offs involved about 50 people and I have no way of knowing who those 50 people are, the company didn't provide me their names, only their ages.

How many years did you have with the company? Are you in a protected class? (Age, race, gender, ADA).

I had 1 year and 10 months with the company. The only protected class I could potentially be in is a person that qualified for FMLA.

When you were laid off, did anything transpire with respect to your reaction or response that may have caused the company to feel you were a threat, i.e., did you spout off to them, or to other employees that might have carried tales back to the management, etc?

No, I calmly and peacefully accepted the bad news. Immediately after hearing the news, they told me that I need to leave immediately and cannot return to my desk to clear out my personal items during normal business hours because it makes the other employees feel bad (I heard this is normal for companies doing layoffs).

So, I came back later that night after business hours and security guards let me in so I could clear out my personal items. I brought a friend with to help me clear out my items and carry them to the car, but the security guards seemed to freak out about that a little bit and said only I was allowed inside to clear out my desk. Other than that, nothing.

 

[gkisystems]

Unless the letter sent to the local police departments contained statements that were untrue, I don't see where libel exists. If the letters stated that Mr. Gkisystems is not permitted on our properties, that is perfectly acceptable.

They simply advised you that you were not welcome on their property and not to call their stores. I fail to see any form of libel in that. How has that injured you? Have the police begun to routinely sneer at you as they pass by your house? Have you been subject to extra police attention somehow? Police departments get these sorts of notifications by phone, fax and mail with some regularity. How much effect they have, legally, depends upon state law.

- Carl

One of the thing that makes cops so good at their jobs is that they pay attention to the little details that other people would miss. Once a person gets into a cops memory, the next encounter whether it be something minor like a speeding/parking ticket could be less advantageous to the person in the cops memory vs. a complete stranger.

Additionally, if a company sends a letter to a local PD to warn them about me vs. just sending it to me must imply that I'm "extra bad." This won't help me later down the road especially if I want to apply for a job at the police department.

Additionally, the letter was forwarded to the various intercompany HR departments. I could suffer some negative publicity within the company itself which harms my ability for a positive job reference when applying for a new position at that company or a new company.

Interestingly, at the time I was laid off, they said I was eligible to apply for other jobs in the company...but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that if I can't contact other employees. They also gave me some benefits package in which I need to contact the company's benefits department...how would I do that without contacting employees?