What to do if a prospective employer told your then current employer that you had a job interview and this resulted in the loss of your job?
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What to do if a prospective employer told your then current employer that you had a job interview and this resulted in the loss of your job?
The potential and present employer know each other through business dealings but have some differences and issues. In a conversation they had, the potential employer mentioned my name in the context of some management problems and informed the present employer that I had visited him. I got laid off the next day. Do I have a case to go after the potential employer who has shown no remorse or regret inspite of knowing the situation.
Asked on January 27, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
You probably have no recourse at all. Whether or not what the prospective employer did was moral, fair, professional, etc., there is no law against employer A telling anyone, including employer B, that an employee of B is interviewing with him. This is simply not information that someone is obligated to keep confidential (unless and only to the extent that the prospective employer may have agreed, preferably in writing, to hold the information confidential). This is a known risk of interviewing while employed; while it is very unfortunately, it does happen. Since there is no general duty to keep the identify or fact of interviews condidential, there is no ability to take legal action against someone for disclosing it. In the future, do not interview with someone who knows your current employer--that's the best way to avoid this.
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