References

A reference which referred to negative reports and unsubstantiated allegations about an employee was not negligent because it had been made clear to the prospective employer that the issues raised about the employee were allegations only which had not been investigated.

An employer was liable in damages to its former employee for negligent misstatement when it sent, six years after he’d left, a disparaging email to his subsequent employer which led to his dismissal. The fact that this information was not contained in a formal reference was irrelevant: it was eminently foreseeable that the damaging information would cause loss to the ex-employee and as such the ex-employer owed him a duty of care.

An employer who victimises a past employee by providing a damaging reference to a prospective new employer is liable to compensate that employee for their future loss of earnings caused by the prospective new employer withdrawing its job offer.

An ex-employee was victimised contrary to the Sex Discrimination Act when her previous employer failed to provide a reference along the lines agreed in a compromise agreement to her subsequent prospective employer.

Employers are sometimes wary of giving references because they believe that they have to be very careful about what they say. Often this leads to rather anodyne references because of fear of litigation, and hence limits their usefulness. This case is an example of someone being frank in the reference they supplied and of the truth being an absolute defence.