What can a former employer say if a perspective employer calls for information concerning your employment.?

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Iggy's Cabbage Patch Gang	Legally and by the U.S. Labor Board, they can only say what your beginning hire date was, and the ending date, they are not allowed to say why you are no longer there, cant say, he or she was fired, lay off or nothing...you can sue if they do......they not even allowed to tell a prospective employer what your pay was...... Paralegal Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Too Silly	A former employer is only legally allowed to say that 1) Yes, you worked there and 2) For how long. Anything beyond that, hire a lawyer. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Bingo!	Dont accept that answer. I believe as long as you have your friend who asked for you, then you have a case. They are ONLY allowed to discuss your job performance and qualifications. Just inquire of the fees when you call around for lawyers. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

leysarob	Slander is extremely tough to prove in court. Your friend called and misrepresented himself/herself on the phone -- fraud. Does he/she really want to testify in court about that? A former employer may legally provide true information and any information that the employer honestly believes is true. He can even state his/her opinion of a former employee. It is best to let this go Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Dragon	The cause of action is called, "Interference with Prospective Business Advantage" Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Expert Realtor	Iggy is 110% incorrect...US Dept of Labor has no such regulation (please site your source). I have PERSONALLY been sued by a former employee that I had charged and convicted of stealing from my company. This same employee (believing in the Urban Myth that I couldn't say anything negative) told a future employer to call me for a reference. As the company owner, I disclosed his position, dates, and told him that he was fired and convicted in a court of law for embezzlement. My employee sued me, and lost on the 1st day in court...we weren't even there 15 minutes. All I had to show was his conviction, it was TRUE information that I disclosed, therefore the judge said I had a legal right to forward that to a future employer. If the Urban Myth that Iggy believes in were correct, I would not have won my case. IN YOUR case, it was some random guy answering the phone and not a representative of the company...that's different, but since it was your friend that called and not a future employer...then you have NO CASE. To the original poster: Four points to remember: 1. I never said you were a thief. 2. You can only sue for slander if what was said WAS NOT true, and can be PROVEN to NOT be true AND you ahve to prove that it caused you DAMAGES (ie money)...truthful statements about you, however negative, can be printed on the front page of the morning paper and there is nothing you can do about it. If it didn't cost you a real, true, job loss that can be proven, there is no damages, and therefore, no harm, NO COLLECT! 3. I have never been fired from a job...unlike you. 4. Your post has been reported for violating community guidelines. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Rhone	There is a lot of misinformation on this site regarding what an employer may do regarding references. First, "Iggy," shame on you for providing intolerably incorrect legal conclusions. Your particular question has two different things going on: First, with regard to providing references, there is no duty for any employer to provide reference information of any kind. In fact, most employers choose not to for a very good reason: if they are incorrect (false statements, malice, speaking outside of the scope of employment, etc) they could be negligent and held responsible for your not getting hired by the inquiring employer. But they are not prohibited from giving reference information...but few do, because they will be responsible for the accuracy of what they say, and because, like your case, they say they fired you, and you say you quit, they are asking for a lawsuit if they comment. Because most employers do not want to deal with that risk, they simply have a blanket policy imposed by themselves that they will not release information beyond the dates that you worked there. It causes a misconception that that is the law, when it's really nothing more than a good, litigation-avoiding business practice. But even if they do disclose information that prevents you from getting a job, if that information is TRUE, then they have not defamed you nor are they liable for negligent misrepresentation. In the normal context during which liability attaches to your old employer, a new employer calls them, identifies why they are calling, and someone on the other end of the line, acting within the scope of their employment, provides inaccurate information about you. For the old employer to have liability, the new employer has to rely on the information and take some action (or not, like not hiring you) which results in some harm to you, like not getting the job. So, in a sense, an employer calling and talking to this other guy could provide adequate reason to sue the old employer for negligent misrepresentation or defamation But, the other part of your story leads to a lesser likelihood of a lawsuit succeeding. It was your friend that called, not a new employer. Since there is no evidence that a future or prospective employer made the call, and then subsequently relied on that information in not hiring you, you don't satisfy the test that you were injured (legally, not physically, lol). Also, it is not enough that some employer might have relied on the information. You need some sort of evidence that a prospective employer did not hire you because of the information, but would have hired you if the inaccurate/false information wasn't released. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Patty K	In order to sue, you need to prove damages. If you had long term, permanent damage from that phone call, then you can sue. Then again, you can try and sue for anything if you want to. The person was definitely out of line, but I don't see a lawsuit. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No