cbg said:
Actually, it's a myth that a company can be sued for disclosing the reason for a termination. A widely held myth that is in many cases perpetrated by over-cautious attornies, but a myth nonetheless.
Actually, it's not.
It's not that you WILL be sued for giving out bad references, its that it INCREASES the risk of it.
Increased risk of being sued = Bad.
Bad = Attorney says dont do it. Wastes money and time even if you are mostly in the clear.
Your response may confuse others into thinking its ok to list every thing wrong with an employee upon termination. Yes, technically, if an employee is late all the time, then fired, and the employer says "It's because he was late so much, look at his time cards" that is not likely to be actionable. But anything else more subjective is likely to cause trouble and create a major litigation risk. "He was fired because he
So there is a reason employers dont disclose reasons for termination, because you are more likley to get SUED. When people are fired, they are usually very angry and disclosing reasons is not only unprofessional but just adding fuel to the fire; they want to sue you anyway, now you are giving them ammunition. Not only that, but other employees will know the reasons and possibly have cause to sue as well (Saying someone was harrassing co-workers, could trigger those co-workers to sue to company, because now they admitted to have a workplace with harassment!)
Bad references can prevent the fired employee from finding another job and then he goes to a lawyer, and sues.
In any case, there is a 5 part test (differs by state):
Employer can be held liable for the negligent misrepresentation of a former employee's work history if: (1) the inquiring party clearly identifies nature of inquiry; (2) employer voluntarily decides to respond to the inquiry, and thereafter unreasonably provides false or inaccurate information; (3) the person providing the inaccurate information is acting within scope of his/her employment; (4) the recipient of the incorrect information relies on its accuracy to support an adverse employment action against the plaintiff; and (5) plaintiff suffers quantifiable damages proximately caused by the negligent misrepresentation. (Singer v. Beach Trading Co., Inc. 876 A.2d 885 (NJ 2005)).
Note that it must be false; however as a general rule, companies wont give anything bad out because it isn't worth the time to defend. Ignore that advice at your peril.
