Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts

After being fired, bad or no recommendation letter

You supply a lot of information in your question, and you raise several issues. I see these as being the taking ofyour work by your boss, then you were fired (improperly?),and now there is a conspiracy to keep you from getting a job.

It is likely that the work you did belonged to your company, and that your boss has a right to use it any way that he sees fit. If the work you did was outside your scope of employment, or if you had an agreement whereby your ideas were your to keep, and do not belong to the company, or if the ideas were outside the scope of your job, or if other special situations apply, then you may "own" the ideas, and maybe can get them back or keep your boss from using them. This depends on what the ideas were, what your employment agreement was, and other factors.

You may have been fired in violation of your contract (if you had one), or in violation of an implied contract. If so, you may have a legal remedy. If you are an "employee at will", you can be let go for no reason at all, and you may have no remedy. If you were terminated for some sinister or illegal reason, then that may be different.

With regard to the letters of recommendation, a lot of this depends on who you steer potential employers to talk to, and what you say about why you left (be careful here, don't say something that can get you in trouble legally). A manager can refuse to give a recommendation, and can refer callers to human resources. There is nothing illegal about that. When you give someone a name to contact, you are giving a kind of "permission" for that person to give their opinion of you. It is hard to dispute their opinion, after all it is their opinion, and you indirectly asked for them to give it to someone you seek a job with. An attorney could be very useful to you in helping you negotiate who you can refer potential employers to, and what they will say about your performance. Companies would usually rather agree to some compromise, rather than face the risk of a lawsuit.

Your future career is probably in the balance. Please get the help of an attorney, who can give you professional advice tailored to the specifics of your situation.

This message is provided to assist you in structuring your thoughts when you speak with an attorney about your situation. I am not your attorney, and you are not my client, so this is not legal advice. Legal advice can only be given after a careful interview of the client by the attorney, and I have not had the opportunity to understand the significant issues that I must understand to render legal advice. You should contact an attorney in your state to discuss your situation. That attorney can give you the advice that your situation deserves, after carefully considering the issues that are legally significant in your situation.