Monday, January 26, 2009

Things you learn in law school

I love my employment law class. I never thought I would like this area of law, but it is all about fighting the "at-will" presumption that this country is so found of. I like thinking that you are giving the workers some more rights, without a union. Especially when the employer acts in a horrible way.

But I keep learning interesting things that bust things that I always assumed. HR departments always say that when a prospective employer of an ex employee is calling for a employment verification, you should only verify when they worked, what they made, and that is really it. But I found out that employer cannot be sued for giving information to the prospective employer about the ex employee. The myth is that this would be a defamation suit. But there is a privilege that applies for employers giving information about past employees. If the employer has a reasonable belief that there was a cause to fire and the new employer should know, you can't be sued UNLESS: you reveal it in an inappropriate way [broadcast it to more people that need to know], or you abuse it [usually by lying]. There is no cause to sue and in fact, these suits are RARE.....

Another myth bunked in law school....see all that money spent on tuition is doing good.

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