wife's termination

[bigjake1222]

my wife was terminated from her job last week because of error in her judgement. She was at a conference for her company and after drinking with her coworkers, she, as a joke, signed the bar tab to her friends room.

That is not the reason I am asking a question. The question is

After termination, is it legal for a boss or the supervisor who terminated her to tell other coworkers the details of her termination.

Her boss went out to eat with a subordinate of my wifes and told her all the details of the HR meeting and after that the subordinate called some customers of the company and told them what happened to my wife.

We know this because a coworker of my wife who is also a friend said the customers called her and wanted to know more about it.

This worker told the customers that my wife was embezzling funds from the company.

Ok, the question: Is this considered slander and what they did against the law. My wife wants to stay in the industry but now may have been blacklisted because of their actions.

Please point us in the right direction

Thank you

 

[cbg]

The short answer to your question is that in the very large majority of cases, it is not illegal for an employer to give out the reason for an employee's termination to anyone they care to share it with. Barring a legally binding agreement to the contrary, they can take out a billboard on the main highway advertising the reasons for termination if they want to.

Slander is not my strong point but basically, if it is true it is not slander. Without more facts I'm not prepared to offer a judgement as to whether or not what your wife did does, in fact, constitute embezzlement. However, it was not against the law for the boss to tell the subordinate the details of the termination. Bad management yes, illegal no.

BTW, technically "blacklisting" means the old employer calling potential new employers, unsolicited, and telling them not to hire your wife. In nearly twenty five years as an HR manager I have NEVER had another employer call me in this manner; it happens far less frequently than some folks assume. If they give truthful information, even if negative, to any potential employer who calls them for a reference, that is neither blacklisting, slander, nor illegal.