Is it in my best interest to respond to my former employer about my current employment status?
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Is it in my best interest to respond to my former employer about my current employment status?
My former employer has been consistently contacting me to ask about my current
employment status. I quit a position at a medical practice to work in an unrelated field. After sending my letter of reisgnation, my former employer had me sign the employee manual which had a non-compete. It has been weeks since I left but my former employer has been contacting me via phone calls, text and email because they want written confirmation that I am not currently employed at a medical practice. Although I am currently employed in a different field, I am wary of responding to my former boss. This is because they have made verbal threats to me stating that I would be in big trouble if I had quit to work at a different medical practice. I do not feel they have my best interest in mind. My former employer acknowledges in the email that I had already stated verbally that I am not working in the same medical field. Why do they need written confirmation then? They had also stated that I should respond soon before things get
Asked on September 27, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Don't respond when you don't have to (i.e. are not legally obligated to--and you are not in this case unless the handbook you signed specially contractually obligated you to respond to such queries) and you don't trust the other side (which you don't). If you say anything to someone you don't trust, they may find a way to turn it around and use it against you, so there is a potential downside to you; but there is no upside or advantage to you, since it doesn't get you anything and will not stop them by bothering you further in the future if they want. So ignore their contacts but print and keep safe a copy of that email you describe, where they acknowledge you are not working in the same field, in case they do try to take action against you on the non-compete.
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