Is it legal for a former employer to give a negitive review of a former employee?
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Is it legal for a former employer to give a negitive review of a former employee?
My husband has been seeking employment for about 6 months now but every time he has an interview it goes well until they contact a certain past supervisor. The new company then retracts their offer of employment. The past supervisor doesn’t like my husband very well and it seems she is keeping her promise to him that he will never work again. Does my husband have a
Asked on April 20, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
He has a case against her if what she is saying is factually untrue: a factually untrue negative claim or statement about a person is defamation. In this case, he could sue for some of the lost economic benefits of not getting the job(s). But if the statements are true or opinions, he has no claim: true facts, or any opinion, no matter how harmful, are not defamation and are not legally actionable.
Examples:
1) The superviser says your husband was excessively absent, when he was not, or that he was written up for poor performance, when he was not written up--this would be defamation, since these are provably untrue factual claims.
2) The supervisor says you husband was terminated for failing to follow policy or instructions when in fact he did fail to follow policy or instructions--this is true, and people may legally state true facts.
3) The supervisor says your husband was a "bad" employee and/or she found him to be "arrogant" or "unpleasant"--these are opinions, and everyone is legally entitled to have and state an opinion.
There would be no case or claim for examples 2) or 3), above.
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