Legal Question in Employment Law in Missouri
Is it an illegal action to share contacts names with other potential employees before the interview? The reason I ask is because I submitted my application for a job, and was offered an interview. Not a day later, one of my co-workers announced that they were leaving for the company I had applied with. When I congratulated them, they said to me, 'I heard something about you as well. Good luck to you.' I was taken aback and wondered who else this information might have been leaked to. Is there any recourse available?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The first piece of information that needs to be confirmed is how your co-worker received the information. If the employer that you applied to inquired into your present employer (which most will do if they have the information), then just about anything your present employer says is privileged. Your current employer can literally defame you and it is not actionable. See RSMo 290.152.
Prospective employers are not bound by confidentiality in relationships with prospective employees. The best you can do is to request confidentiality (which may not always be considered).
I think the only cause of action that could be maintained in a situation like this would be if you were fired by your present employer because they found out that you applied somewhere else. The cause would be tortious interference with business relationships, and it would probably only be actionable against the person relaying the information to your employer.
However, Missouri is an "at-will" state and employers can terminate employees for "arbitrary and capricious" reasons.
It seems from the facts as you gave them, you do not have recourse against the prospective employer.
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