QUESTION
Is it illegal for a previous employer / supervisor to provide unjust and negative employment vouchers in retaliation?
Asked on Feb 27th, 2014 on Labor and Employment - Vermont
More details to this question:
My wife was working in a doctors office for 2 years as a phlebotomist. Her supervisor never treated her the same as the rest of the lab staff. Within the first week, a rumor was floating arond the office that my wife (who has an advanced degree in the medical field) was hired to replace her supervisor. My wife reported her supevisor for violations of HIPPA because she caught her looking in medical files belonging to her family (daughter, son-in-law), but nothing was done. She also suspects her of looking in her (my wife's) file because she knew information about my wife that was never shared. My wife voluntarily ended her employment there after she suffered a major anxiety attack at work, because of the way her supervisor treated her, and ended up in the hospital for 5 days. My wife was never reprimanded for any misconduct and was not fired. My wife has been unable to gain any new employment since leaving the doctors office.
1 ANSWER
4 Awards
An employer cannot provide false information about an employee to a prospective employer as this would be defamation. A lawuit could be filed against the person or company who makes these false statements. The employer can only provide factual and truthful information. It gets a little more complicated if they provide vague opinions that are somewhere between false and true (e.g. "he is not one of hardest workers"). Your best bet is to retain a service or a friend to call as if they were a prospective employer and ask for a reference. If that information is false or negative, then you should speak to an attorney about this who can advise you on what action could be taken.
Answered on Feb 27th, 2014 at 3:30 PM