Dafamation of Character/Slander

[SweetJustice1]

One of my ex-employers is telling anyone who calls for employment verification that I was a bad employee and they wouldn't hire me again because of theft. I haven't stolen from anyone. Because of this my husband and I are going to end up homeless. I'm having alot of trouble getting and keeping a job because of what they are saying about me. I'm extremely stressed out about this and don't know what to do. This has been going on for four months now, ever since I quit working for them.

 

[seniorjudge]

Did you have a question?

 

[SweetJustice1]

Defamation of character/Slander

Can you help me with this? Do you know an attorney in Nevada that can help me with this? What they are doing is against the law? I haven't stolen anything and I wouldn't steal anything from anyone. This is emotionally and financially hurting me. I'm so stressed out about this that I'm having anxiety attacks.

 

[SweetJustice1]

Do you know if I can press criminal charges and have them thrown in jail?

 

[FlaRiptide]

Have you confronted your ex-employer? Inform them what you have heard and if they confirm that it is true, then inquire why they are saying it.

How do you know that your ex-employer is telling others about the alleged theft? Third party info is not always very reliable.

 

[SweetJustice1]

I know because I had my mother call them and act like an employer trying to verify employment. The reason I did this is because I've been having alot of weird things happen to me in looking for a job. I've had a lot of job interviews with employers where they've been extremely interested in me and said I'm perfect for the job and then I never recieve a call back and when I try to call them to ask them if I'm hired or was there something I did in the interview, so I can work on it, they never call me back. I've gotten fired from two jobs since this has been going on. One job called me up and told me I was fired because they're honest people. I asked this employer if he was saying he thought I stole something and he said no you don't understand we're really honest people. At that time I didn't know what was going on, I didn't understand why he was saying that and why I was being fired. After alot of really good interviews with no call backs and being fired twice with no real reason I figured something fishy was going on. The only person I could think of who would purposely try to hurt me is my ex-employer so that's when I had my mom call them to see if they were saying bad things about me. They have know right doing this I didn't steal from anyone. I was a really good employee. I worked alot of overtime for them, I always kept the place extremely clean, I would go grocery shopping for them, I would drive my boss home at 6:00 in the morning after I closed up the place ( he lived about 30 minutes away from me), and anything they asked me to do I did. I ended up walking out on them and that's why I think they're doing this to me. They know I wouldn't steal from anyone.

 

[cbg]

I'm going to split a couple of hairs here but they're very legally important hairs. It makes a great deal of difference EXACTLY what he said.

"She was a bad employee" - Opinion, legal. No legal recourse.

"I would not rehire her" - Opinion, legal. No legal recourse.

Now, here's where it gets tricky. Did he say,

"She was fired on suspicion of theft" - Legal if true. By true I do not mean that it's legal if you stole something; I mean it's legal if he suspected you stole something and fired you because of it. If he knows you did not steal anything OR if he suspected you stole something but did not fire you, you quit, you MAY have legal action. Consult local counsel.

Or did he say,

"She was fired for stealing" - Legal ONLY if you WERE fired for stealing, and he'd better have proof that you stole. Consult local counsel.

 

[SweetJustice1]

This is what was said. Mom: Can I speak to Jane Doe? Ex-employer:I'm Jane Doe? Mom:I'm calling to verify employment for John Doe? Ex-employer:Yes, she worked here. Mom:Was she a good employee? Ex-employer:Nope & I would not hire her again. Mom:What's the reason?Ex-employer:Theft Ex-employer:Bye
Ex-employer then hung up. I was not fired I quit.

 

[cbg]

It can't hurt to run it past an employment attorney. The answers to the first two questions were legal; the third is definitely into a grey area as it is misleading at best.