negative references, defamation, other
I worked for two retail establishments part-time in 2001 where the managers of each were related to each other. I quit at one place and then wrote a letter to the company stating why and that they should check their shrinkage. At the other job the manager began to get more critical with me so I went to a temp service and they put me to work full-time, so I quit the second job. I had the key in my possession for a few days and when I returned it, the manager said that there were items of clothing missing that belonged to customers. I told her I had no knowledge of the missing items, which I didn't. Several weeks later the owner called me and said that he had talked to the chief of police about the missing items and was going to have all the employees undergo a lie detector test. I agreed to do this because I did not take anything from this employer. He also said that if the items were returned by a certain date that no charges would be filed. Well, the date came and went and I never heard from anyone and went on with my life. To make a long story short, I heard from an employee at the first store that she was told I'd been fired for stealing. I returned to college and have had considerable difficulty getting a job. I think these two past employers got together and decided to say I was fired for stealing in retaliation for the letter I wrote. Do I have any recourse? I don't have concrete knowledge of what exactly is being conveyed to prospective employers, but I am not getting jobs. My age (53) may be a factor and a bankruptcy filing 3 years ago as well, but I have a feeling that there is more to it than that. How can I find out and what can I do, if anything?
1 answer | asked Oct 30, 2007 5:27 PM [EST] | applies to Ohio
Answers (1)
Defamation in general is very difficult to prove, and is all the more difficult to prove in the job reference context.
Under Ohio law, there is a privilege that attaches to an employer's communications when giving out job-reference information. "Privilege" means that, even if the words are false nad defamatory, they are not legally actionable because of the context in which they are said.
The privilege can be overcome by showing that the specific, false statements made as part of the reference were made with knowledge that the statements are false, or with "reckless disregard" as to whether the statements are false.
If you believe that you aren't getting jobs because of statements by these past employers, the first step is to find out whether that's true. That may be difficult to do.
Then, if you succeed in determining that that you didn't get a job because of a negative reference (as opposed to the other issues you raise, or something else altogether), you then need to find out exactly what these past employers said and when.
The statute of limitations is very short: one year from the date the defamatory statement is actually made, not when you discover that it was made.
I think it would be very difficult to go after these past employers, but not impossible if you are able to do some detective work and get straight answers from the places that turned you down.
Good luck!
posted by Christina Royer | Oct 31, 2007 3:08 PM [EST]
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