CanI bring an action againstmy previous employer for the actions of one of their employees?
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CanI bring an action againstmy previous employer for the actions of one of their employees?
I worked for a company and was fired for failing a THC drug test. Since then I have gone to work for another company and have found out that one of the salesman from my previous employer has been telling customers that I was let go for failing a thistest. This information is supposed to be private as far as I know, so anything that he may have heard is either rumor or it was talked about at work. Is that invasion of privacy? I have at least 1 customer who is willing to provide an affidavit and maybe more. Can I bring action against this employer to at least stop, if not reverse, the damage that has been done?
Asked on June 29, 2011 under Personal Injury, New Hampshire
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Invasion of privacy includes the public disclosure of private facts. Your drug test results should have remained confidential. The problem however is whether your former employer disclosed the information or whether as you mentioned this was just rumor/gossip among employees.
If your former employer disclosed the information, the employer would be liable for invasion of privacy. However, if the employer did NOT disclose the information and the information is just due to speculation, rumor, gossip among employees, you would not have a case for invasion of privacy against the employer.
As for stopping or reversing the damage, this does not appear to be possible since the information has been disclosed.
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