Who is Liable if Fired? Company found out He is Looking for New Job?

Here is the situation a friend applied for a job, went to the interview and asked that the new company not to contact his current employer. The new company made a verbal offer he did not yet receive a written offer yet.





The HR department approached him today and wondered if it was ok to release his employment information to someone who had contacted them by phone uh oh! They did not seem pleased!





He kind of panicked and said ok. He then emailed the new potential employer and asked nicely if they had called. They said no but "Maybe their 3rd party Background check company did"





He made it clear he did not want the current employer contacted both on the application and verbally during the interview.





I asked if he remembered if he signed a waiver for a 3rd party to contact his company and others for background information. He did not remember. He is worried about his current job, if he decides not to take this offer.





Now his company knows does he have recourse if fired and vs. who?
Who is Liable if Fired? Company found out He is Looking for New Job?
As long as it is 'at will employment' which means they can fire him and he can quit, whenever, then he will be in the right. His current employer CAN NOT fire him unless they have a legit reason. Not that he was seeking new employement, period. So, he should not worry. But, if he still is, he may just consider taking the offer and moving on before they let him go. That way he can avoid the whole thing all together and hey, if he was looking for another job anyways, why not leave if given the opportunity. Good luck. Also, if it does lead to him being fired, he can call his state employement agency and get a referal to a lawyer who specializes in faulty terminations. Hope all works out.
Reply:He does not have an recourse. On the application it says me way contact your current employer for a reference and you have the right to say no for whatever the reason may be. As far as the third party it is just part of the background check which I am sure had to be done. It is very unlikely any company would take on an employee without a background check especially in todays post 9-11 society.





Your friend is not the first and certainly not the last employee to entertain other job offers while still with their current company. If he is not under contract, he has the right to look for other jobs within or outside of the company. Something for your friend to keep in mind is in the United States anyone not under contract or under a Union is employed at will meaning the employee can quit or be let go for circustances within reason.
Reply:Depends on what kind of job he has. If he is a labor union, then they can help him out. If he is an "at-will" employee though, like most people are, then he can be fired for looking for another job, and that's it. Private companies can fire people for whatever reason they want (as long as its not racial, gender or some other form of discimination, or without demonstrable cause). So your answer is, no one is liable if he is fired.





That said, a company is obligated to obtain consent before running a background check on someone, and the subject of that check can request a free copy of the results as well.
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