I have worked for 3 years at a business with 90 employees owned by a
private individual. Having worked my way “to the top” I sacrificed a
lot.  After a lot of verbal abuse from him I finally quit.  I don’t
know if the way he treats his employees is legal, but I had enough.  I
was promoted several times and given large raises . . . all which did
not make up for the verbal abuse to me and everyone in the company. 
When he yelled profanities at me when I was sticking up for a fellow
employee I finally walked out.  He left several message on my
answering machine asking me to come back and apologizing.  I chose to
get out of this abusive relationship.

My question is, how do I address this when I apply for a new job? I
know he will give me a bad reference if a future employer calls
because I walked out. I offered to give them 2 weeks notice but he did
not want it when he learned I would not be returning.  Because he is
the owner there was no one I could talk to.  In addition, I am not
eligible for unemployment because I quit.  The entire situation seems
very unfair. I look like the bad guy because I chose not to take his
abuse anymore.  I am concerned for the friend that I have left at the
company because their situation has not changed.

What can be done?   What do I tell prospective employers when they ask
why I left?  I was always taught never to say anything bad about your
past employer because that would make you look bad.  Should I file a
complaint? If so with whom?  Is there anything I can do to get
unemployment?  I am sure I am not the first person to have this
problem.

---

Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 02 Aug 2002 16:20 PDT

Hi employee...

I can totally empathize with your
work situation. It is all too common
of an occurrence. 

With 90 employees there, did you 
have any friends that have some
type of position near yours? If
so, could you ask them privately
if you could get a reference of
your work quality that they have
observed? Also a statement from
them regarding the "environment"?
They might be hesitant, be assure
them that you will do the same for
them in the future.

As historybuff stated, yes a prior
employer cannot say certain things
when confronted with a work ref.
Only problem here is. Your employer
can say MANY things that you probably
could not bring action against, that
still could hurt your future employ.

Recourse for negative feedback from
a prior employer as far as I know is
pretty limited to a lawsuit. The
outcome would easily be 50/50 depending
on 'facts', and the mood of the court
that day.

I would say best way to avoid this
employer is from other references.
Do you help customers where you 
work? Know any of them? Would they
give you a reference? I guess what
I'm trying to say is, several letters
from other individuals should easily
dispel with any negative things that
might come up.

Since this seems like a legal issue,
I feel it important to state: It is
important that something that can
affect your future and finances should
probably be taken up with a lawyer
in advance. They might want $ tho ;0(

All in all, be honest and truthful at
your next interview, do not let emotion
get in the way of relating what happened
at the prior job. But also, don't give
more info than is requested ;-)

I don't think you can get unemployment.



does this help any?
-AI


fwiw-for what it's worth:

I'm in a hiring position where I
work, and I've never called a reference.
I personally don't see much validity
to them, because of this exact situation.


OH WAIT!!! You said he left messages for you
to come back on your answering machine??
SAVE THEM! That would be all you need, 
don't you think? Apologizing? He dug his
own grave if you have that recorded.

GOOD LUCK!

Speaking from personal experience.

First, if he gives you a bad reference you can sue. This happens so
often that virtually all larger companies refuse to give any more
information about ex-employees other than the dates of employment and
perhaps a job title.

Second, don't dismiss out of hand the idea that you might be able to
collect unemployment. Quitting for cause is not the same thing as
quitting just because you felt like it. I know for certain from
experience that it's quite possible to collect unemployment even
though you quit as long as you had a good reason. You can also get
another job for a short time and be laid off from that and collect
based on your history with his company if you have a friend with a
business who would accommodate you. You could also sue him for various
things in many states, either in small claims court or with a lawyer
simply because of the abusive working conditions without regard to
whether he gives you a bad reference.

You don't mention your location so I can't give you the applicable law
or contacts for your state but I know that in several states your best
procedure would simply be to go ahead and file for unemployment.  He
may just let it go and you will collect or he may dispute your claim
and, in that case, you will be given an opportunity to plead your case
very informally to an arbitrator at no cost.  This is normally done in
a short phone call and shouldn't require legal advice, although it
certainly shouldn't hurt to consult a lawyer if you feel it is
appropriate.

Prepare in advance by making notes of any specific incidents you can
think of, with dates, as well as any incidents you have witnessed
where he interacted poorly with other employees. Whether you wish to
make this known to him informally via a phone call is up to you based
on your knowledge and experience with the individual but be very
careful how you do this. You don't want to be accused of extortion.

Although you might possibly be able to use recorded messages from him,
that depends on the particular jurisdiction since it's illegal to
record someone in some states.  Although he may have left a message on
an answering machine, it can still be sticky in some states.  However,
you can record in writing your recollection of the message, let him
deny under oath that he made the offer, then let him know that you
have the recording and ask the judge or arbitrator if it is
admissible.

Good luck. You almost certainly have good grounds to recover from him
if he gives you a bad reference, especially if he repeatedly ask you
to return and if he refused to permit you to give two weeks notice.
You probably have excellent grounds for collecting unemployment
although that depends on the particular laws and regulations in your
state and on just who decides the case. That is a gamble, but it
doesn't cost anything except a bit of your time.

Please remember that this is not legal advice, just general comments
from a researcher who personally knows someone who has had similar or
related experiences and is speaking from that knowledge.

I hope this helps.

I'm speaking from memory here, but I'm pretty sure that laws are in
place that limit what former employers can say about you.  I believe
they are able to verify for the caller facts like dates of employment,
but not details of your performance while there.

Employee,

When interviewing in the future, you must be honest about the
situation with your future employer because it will come through
anyway. What you must practice in doing framing the situation in such
a way that it remains neutral. Your future employer should understand
and also should be given other contacts within the old company to
verify the situation.

I am not sure that yelling to employees is illegal, unfortunately. 
However, I cannot comment too much on this.

Claudietta

It's not generally a matter of law that keeps many employers from
refusing to give substantive information about a former employee, but
concern for legal liability.

You should check with a competent authority about unemployment
compensation also. Sometimes you can collect even though you quit --
if a reasonable person under the same circumstances would have quit
also. Under the circumstances, it's a long shot, but it's worth
looking into.

Generally, I would advise being honest when dealing with potential new
employers. I wouldn't go into all the gory details; merely indicate
that the work environment had become intolerable and leave it at that.
 The fact that you were there as long as you were indicates that
you'll stick to a suitable job.  I don't think that the incident will
hurt you as much as you think it might.