Former employer sharing information

[greentree]

In 2002 the company I was working for (Company A) closed and I subsequently went to work for one of their clients (Company B). I worked for Co. B until December 2007. At that time there were some issues with the management of Co. B and I submitted a letter of resignation giving notice but was asked to leave immediately. Co. B considers me terminated. I do not have a problem with the fact that they felt is necessary to terminate me. I do not expect a positive reference from them and am telling prospective employers that when I apply for jobs now. The problem I have is that the manager from Co. B has shared all the details of the issue with my previous employer at Co. A. I did a fabulous job for Co. A. When I left Co. B I contacted Co. A person and told them I was job hunting and would likely be listing them as a reference and they responded fine. Since that time, Co. B has told them what happened and now when contacted for a reference Co. A is saying that I did a great job for him but that he has a good friend at Co. B where I went after his business closed and the situation there was not good so I was fired but he has been told not to talk about it. Can Co. B share the details of my termination with whomever they wish? Can Co. A share this information about Co. B or should he just relate his experience when I worked for him? Thanks for any suggestions or comments.

 

[presutin]

I am surprised to hear that Company A is going over details from what happened to Company B without being your employer and without having witnessed what happened between you and them. Moreover, why are the recruiters that you are interviewing with trying to dig into the issue? You must be sharing stuff during the interviews that are raising red flags about your character and your work performance. Get some interview feedback from the recruiters you have interviewed with to identify what the problem really is. Good Luck!

 

[greentree]

As I understand it, since recruiters are not getting a positive reference from Co B, they are contacting the employer previous to that which is Co A. I am telling prospects they will not get a positive reference from Co B. I have been advised it is better to be upfront about possible negative references so that is what I am doing. I have also been advised that usually one negative response is not necessarily a deal breaker if they can get some positive responses. I have left all other previous employers on excellent terms except Co B and certainly did not anticipate Co A causing this problem by mentioning the difficulty at Co B. Thanks for you response.

 

[jacksgal]

You might consider a means to communicate this without sending red flags. Examples if you were fired you can say "job ended" If you had quit because you felt your new boss was a jerk one could say "I felt my new boss and I were not walking the same path and it was in mine and the company's best interest that I seek other ventures" these are off top of my flat head but its all about wording. Last thing you want to do in an interview is send Red Flags out!

 

[cbg]

The only laws regarding the giving of references say that the information cannot be false or misleading. It does not limit the information they can share otherwise.