Legal Question in Employment Law in California
My husband was working in a Nursing Home as an LVN. A year ago they fired him. Then they challenged his unemployment benefits because they said that they fired him for just cause because he abused a patient. The judge ruled in Steve's favor. Since then Steve has been unable to find a full time job because I believe that this employer is saying bad things about him. I am his wife. I have Multiple Sclerosis and all this stress is making my disease worse. What should we do?
2 Answers from Attorneys
What you believe is not relevant. What you can prove is all that matters. If the former employer is making false statements of fact about your husband, you can sue, if you can prove they are preventing him from getting work.
Hello,
This might be a defamation (blacklisting) claim against your husband's former employer. However, you will need actual evidence to prove that the potential employers do not hire your husband because of the information they receive from the former employer, such as any document reflecting the same or an admission by the potential employers that this is the reason they do not hire him. This evidence is rarely available but necessary in order to prove the claim.
Thanks,
Arkady Itkin
San Francisco & Sacramento Employment Lawyer