The Seven Deadly Sins In Managing People
Sin #2 - “Handling Reference Information”
Cathy is a hard-working, well-meaning Midwest retail store manager for a national chain. When Adam, her full-time assistant, continually was late to open and continually mishandled the store’s closings, Cathy had to terminate his employment. But to make Adam feel better, in addition to two weeks severance pay, she typed out a letter of recommendation for Adam to use for future interviews. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished,” then you know that her “nice guy” action backfired.
Adam’s attorney used Cathy’s recommendation letter against her - specifically the part that said: “generally Adam was a good, responsible employee.” A wrongful discharge action followed that the national chain eventually won, but cost them thousands of litigation dollars and ultimately Cathy’s job.
The best way to handle giving out reference or recommendation information is to not give it at all. Some states have or are moving toward protecting ex-employers who share the facts of some ex-employees performances as long as those facts are truthful.
The question becomes, are the facts subject to interpretation of truthful?
The best road to travel in avoiding the reference giving sin is to share dates of employment and positions held and leave it at that. Giving flowery recommendations for some employees and none for others could be problematic, especially when this kind of management action crosses protected class lines, i.e., Positive references or recommendation letters for white males under 40 and nothing for females, plus-forties and minorities, etc., etc. sets employers up for legal quick sand. Okay, so you still have the need to be “open” with a prospective new employer of an ex-employee? Instruct the information seeking potential employer to have the applicant sign a waiver removing you from any liability for releasing information. Then, hold your breath that a lawyer, a judge or a jury views your comments as truthful.