RevengencerAlf t1_jc0mur1 wrote on March 13, 2023 at 4:06 AM

Reply to comment by nikneto in Can a former employer mention that someone was let go in a reference in Massachusetts? by Limulemur

This is just simply false. There is no law in Massachusetts or Federally prohibiting an employer from telling someone else that they terminated you. Most will chose not to do it because they don't want the drama but there's literally nothing stopping them from revealing the conditions of your employment ending unless those conditions are for something that might be protected under other privacy laws (for example if you ended employment due to disability or illness they may or may not have HIPPA obligations).

This feels like one of those things where people just repeat an outright falsehood authoritatively because they heard it somewhere else and they wanted it to be true so they just internalized it.

Nitelyte t1_jc0nw1y wrote on March 13, 2023 at 4:16 AM

As long as everything said is true and can be backed up, employers are fine.

RevengencerAlf t1_jc0o73c wrote on March 13, 2023 at 4:19 AM

From a legal liability standpoint, they don't really even have to back it up. If a former employee sues them for defamation it would be on that employee to prove what they said was false. But most will just sidestep the minefield entirely by not even bothering to share more than basic info because even a frivolous lawsuit they can slap down quickly is still an annoyance and an expense.

HeyaShinyObject t1_jc1ts25 wrote on March 13, 2023 at 12:55 PM

It's typically company policy. People hear that it's not allowed and conflate the reason with the law.

nikneto t1_jc6ru26 wrote on March 14, 2023 at 1:40 PM

I've definitely learned something here today. I've been in management at 3 different agencies where we were told by HR that we weren't allowed to provide any details other than dates of employment and rehire status.

RevengencerAlf t1_jc7jhks wrote on March 14, 2023 at 4:47 PM

To be fair the company itself may very well have that rule so HR telling you that you aren't allowed to share it if someone calls you may be technically true. But it's definitely not the law.

If they did tell you it was illegal it also wouldn't be the first time a company told people something was illegal that wasn't just to make them extra scared of breaking the rule.