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0 pointsmattmaroon2y ago0 comments

He is explaining to you the valid reason, and you are simply not understanding it. People sue, very often, even in spots where the responsibility should have been on them.

Companies stopped doing these sorts of things because companies got sued. It is very easy to bring a lawsuit, And while it is, perhaps not very easy to win it, someone still can easily have six figures in defending themselves.

If you don’t like that, OK, I don’t either, it is awful. But it is a rational response to a problem that happens.

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5 comments · 1 top-level

giantg22y ago· 4 in thread

"He is explaining to you the valid reason, and you are simply not understanding it."

Oh I understand it. But do you see the big picture here? People should be sueing for them not writing the letter. The NLRB should be taking cases for this as well. This is almost as anticompetitive as non-competes.

Edit: shouldn't have said for not writing the letter, just for a policy forbidding the writing of letters.

JumpCrisscross2y ago

> People should be sueing for them not writing the letter

This gets awfully close to compelled speech. The only way this could be done is if we remove the right for employees to sue in respect of the content of the letter, which in turn opens up avenues for retaliation.

Written recommendations are bullshit. The ban should be on requesting them.

giantg22y ago

My edit shows what I meant. I wouldn't support requiring references, just preventing companies from having policies forbidding them. I've had manager who would have gladly written me a great recommendation but policies prevented it.

A ban on requesting them would also work.

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nickff2y ago

What law would this policy violate? What’s the basis for the suit? That you think it might be anti-competitive because it reduces labor mobility?

giantg22y ago

Based on the article, it seems that this could be reasonable to pursue. You don't need to break a law for a lawsuit, just show damages resulting from another's actions. If you convince the NLRB or a jury that not providing references suppress your ability to get a job or increase your salary at the next job, that could be all that is needed. But this would be applicable to laws on anticompetitive behavior, but that's more of an NLRB thing.

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