Is there legal recourse if a former employer knowingly kept me from getting hired someplace else?
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Is there legal recourse if a former employer knowingly kept me from getting hired someplace else?
I work as a teacher at a private school and had applied for a position within the public school setting.
The principal who was in charge at that time wrote on the reference that he would not rehire me,
effectively giving me a bad reference to keep me at this school since they needed to hire three more
teachers already. This principal is no longer with the school and I am still working there. My application
with the county public school system is now ineligible because the require a yearly evaluation as proof of my working there from my supervisor, which they refuse to do. Is there any legal course I can take with this as this?
Asked on November 7, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
No, there is no recourse based on what you write, unfortunately.
1) An employer has no legal obligation to do anything to help you get hired elsewhere.
2) While a person may not state a factual untruth about you (such as that you were charged with theft, when you never were), since doing so may be defamation, anyone is allowed to state an opinion or state their intentions--the law allows this, even if it harms you. So the principal can write that he or she would not rehire you--that is not an untrue fact, but is an opinion or statement of intention.
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