Bad Worker? Tell Truth Or Pay For It

The California Supreme Court, imposing a new legal rule for letters of recommendation, decided Monday an employer may be liable for damages for giving a positive job reference to a worker who presents a potential safety risk.

California employers already can be held responsible for defaming a departing worker with a negative reference.

Now for the first time, employers also face lawsuits for omitting information that shows the worker poses “a foreseeable and substantial risk of physical harm” to others.

The unanimous ruling came in a lawsuit charging that three school districts in California’s Central Valley wrote glowing letters of recommendation for a vice principal who had been accused of molesting children.

But the decision may have ramifications for other types of employees who could foreseeably cause physical injury, including workers who have been accused of sexual harassment.

“The decision basically tells employers, ‘Do not give references,”’ said Fresno, Calif., lawyer Robert J. Rosati.