If you have specified on an employment application that the prospective employer is not to contact your most recent employer, and they do so anyway, are there any grounds for legal action?
This just happened to someone I know… they quit a job at company X to accompany a spouse on a 1-year assignment to a foreign country. Company X was understanding about the situation, and there was a good-faith understanding that she would be rehired upon her return to the US if there was still enough work to do. It seemed fairly likely this would happen, as long as the Company X was still in business (it’s in and out of the red). Because of the uncertainty involved, however, she interviewed with a Company Y just to have a fallback plan. Thus, she instructed Company Y not to contact company X. But they did so anyway, and now the good faith with Company X is potentially jeopardized. Company Y did not hire her, and their violation of confidence may have cost her the opportunity to rehire at Company X.
So do you think there’s enough cause even to consult a lawyer?
Darn, your first sentence rendered my expertise (in conducting background investigations for Federal agencies) moot. As a standard part of the preemployment screening/hire and the investigation form, a person must list all previous employments for X years, and must sign a release saying that interviewing them are game.