What to do if my past employer will not verify my employment?
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What to do if my past employer will not verify my employment?
I have a letter from them stating that I worked there and how much I was getting paid, as well as my picture in there catalog. An employer contacted them to verify that I worked there and they denied it.
Asked on April 9, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
An employer is under no obligation to verify employment--they may simply refuse to answer or state it is not their policy to answer such queries.
However, if the employer actually lied about your employment, it is possible that you may have a legal claim against them. Lying to deny your employment could be defamation, since it would be an untrue factual assertion about you which damages your reputation (that it, it casts you as the lier) and/or makes others less likely to work with or do business with you; or it might be tortious interference with prospective economic advantage (new employment), since it is interfering with your hiring in a wrongful way (by lying or committing defamation). So if the employer actually lied, as opposed to simply not answering, you may wish to speak with an attorney to explore your possible recourse.
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