Confidential Employee Information

[DMCG]

I work for a very large maintenance/construction/engineering contractor, rendering services to a very large manufacture. About 7 years ago the construction/maintenance firm I was employeed by lost their contract to another firm. The new firm agreed to hire me, as well as, others from the old firm. When negotiating salary, the new firm offered me and others the exact pay we were making with our previous employer; which was less than market value for me because I was in transition from a hourly position to a salary exempt position with my old employer.

When I asked how they obtained information from my previous employer, they said they didn't. And when I confronted my old employer, they denined it too. However, later discovered that our client was at guilt and had passed our old employee records to the new firm.

Needless to say that since then I have been strugling to regain the salary lost because of this incident. I know, without a doubt, that if this information had not been passed forward that I could have negotiated a better salary with the new firm. Is there anything I can do? I even contacted the new firms HR and discussed this with them- they laughed and stated "we do this all the time". I really wished I would have consulted with an attorney when this first happened. Is it too late?

Thanks,
DMCG

 

[cbg]

Nothing that occurred was even remotely illegal. The only information that an employer is required by law to keep confidential is SOME medical information. There is nothing even remotely confidential about salary information or history.