How do you discuss a former boss you dont want contacted?

At my last job, my boss was extremely unethical, shady, lying and back stabbing. when my next employer asks if they can contact him, what should i say? i did good work at the last place, but there was conflict b/c he wanted me to lie on a MS audit, hack contractors laptops to steal passwords so we could cut them out of the loop on projects, lie about his where abouts when he took days off, lie about the tens of thousands of dollars he wasted etc....

he also has substance abuse issues, manic depression, adhd and he's bi-polar.... soooo, i simply dont trust anything he'd say. i have a letter of recommendation from the sr help desk guy.... i just dont want anyone talking to my last boss. how do i avoid that in an interview?

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Comments

chmorin

Don't bring him up. Should he come up, give them another supervisors name and number that you have good accord with.

Would you boss say anything BAD about you? If not, just give them his info.

tdean

chmorin wrote: »

Don't bring him up. Should he come up, give them another supervisors name and number that you have good accord with.

Would you boss say anything BAD about you? If not, just give them his info.

thats the point, there is nothing bad he can say, but you never know with him b/c he was mad at me for not lying to Microsoft and for not stealing contractors passwords etc. he cant be trusted.

jeanathan

tdean wrote: »

thats the point, there is nothing bad he can say, but you never know with him b/c he was mad at me for not lying to Microsoft and for not stealing contractors passwords etc. he cant be trusted.

If it were me, and this may not be the best thing to do though, I would be open about the fact that this particular supervisor had reprimanded you (verbally) for not being willing to commit computer fraud.

It sounds like this person thought that they need to bully those under their supervision. That would make me want to quit too.

tdean

jeanathan wrote: »

If it were me, and this may not be the best thing to do though, I would be open about the fact that this particular supervisor had reprimanded you (verbally) for not being willing to commit computer fraud.

It sounds like this person thought that they need to bully those under their supervision. That would make me want to quit too.

thats pretty much exactly the situation. he took away comp time i earned b/c he felt i didnt send him an outlook reminder at the appropriate time so as punishment, i only got a half day... he also got pissed at me b/c i was sick and didnt lie about my illness. he used to take fridays off and make up stories like his 3rd grade kids having ice hockey games at noon during the school year etc....

Forsaken_GA

list the guy you have a letter of recommendation from as your boss, an give him the heads up about it. Nothing good ever comes of getting into a he said/she said arguement with a former boss

Zartanasaurus

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

list the guy you have a letter of recommendation from as your boss, an give him the heads up about it. Nothing good ever comes of getting into a he said/she said arguement with a former boss

This.

Pick out some managers you worked with that liked you and list them.

RobertKaucher

I have a previous employer where I worked for 4 months. They were just as bad there (family run firm) and I know they will say bad things about me. But I tell my employment prospects upfront what went down and present them with pictures of the way the place looked when I got there and the way it looked when I left. And I say:

“It was a mistake that I took that job, and not because I was unable to perform the duties I was asked, but because of the ethical lines I was asked to cross. I’m certain that the review I will be given will be poor but I’d ask you to look at my entire work record and consider which is more likely. That I had a four month period where my personality and work ethic took a complete 360 or there was something else going on that made me make an uncharacteristic choice to leave without notice.”

forkvoid

Be up-front about the situation, as Robert suggests. Don't lie and say your coworker was your boss; that could come back to bite you. Honesty is always the best choice.

Hyper-Me

I'm pretty sure its illegal for your previous employer to discuss his opinions of you with a potential new employer.

That being said, this happens every single day and there isnt anything you can do about it.

I did leave a job once in a similar situation where I knew they would say bad things about me to a future employer. So I basically reminded them of what they are allowed to say, by law, and warned them not to stray from that.

forkvoid

Hyper-Me wrote: »

I'm pretty sure its illegal for your previous employer to discuss his opinions of you with a potential new employer.

Not true. The only thing stopping a supervisor is their company policy.

That said, it's usually the Right Thing for them to not discuss various things like that, but there's nothing stopping them, legally.

Source: My mom's been in HR for decades, as well as a university HR senior HR rep.

chrisone

Do not list him , i did this and informed another supervisor for the hook up and review. It worked just fine.

RobertKaucher

forkvoid wrote: »

Not true. The only thing stopping a supervisor is their company policy.

That said, it's usually the Right Thing for them to not discuss various things like that, but there's nothing stopping them, legally.

Source: My mom's been in HR for decades, as well as a university HR senior HR rep.

This is correct. As long as they are not crossing the lines of slander or libel, they can say what they want to.

down77

If you are required to list the position, you may want to list the head of the HR Department rather than your immediate supervisor. HR professionals understand what should and should not be disclosed in the course of a reference check. Generally they will stick to the facts surrounding your Title, dates of employment, and eligibility for rehire. Any further comments *could* (please research local statutes and policies) result in claims for libel/slander.

Giving the letter of reference from your colleague is a great step, but make sure to identify him as a colleague and not as a supervisor (unless they held that role). Without disclosing the specifics, I have had to walk out coworkers who were terminated for misrepresenting previous colleagues as supervisors in order provide favorable background checks. This fell under a violation of the companies ethics policy and was discovered as part of an internal audit a few years after they had been employed. While the infraction may have seemed trivial, compliance felt that it created a risk and destroyed the employees creditability, resulting in their dismissal.

fly351

Is there anyone else that could give you a Professional reference from the job? Such as his boss? Higher level co-worker? For example, if you were a helpdesk employee, could one of the network admins give you a reference?

Hyper-Me

RobertKaucher wrote: »

This is correct. As long as they are not crossing the lines of slander or libel, they can say what they want to.

Right you are

Giving References for Former Employees - Free Legal Information - Nolo

Although the previous employer can get in trouble for defamation, its unlikely that you could ever actually prove such an occurance.

RobertKaucher

Hyper-Me wrote: »

Right you are

Giving References for Former Employees - Free Legal Information - Nolo

Although the previous employer can get in trouble for defamation, its unlikely that you could ever actually prove such an occurance.

My state makes it legal to record phone conversations so long as one side is aware that the recording is occuring. Here, I could just have a friend or my wife call and ask HR type questions and see what happened next...

Hyper-Me

RobertKaucher wrote: »

My state makes it legal to record phone conversations so long as one side is aware that the recording is occuring. Here, I could just have a friend or my wife call and ask HR type questions and see what happened next...

We can do that in my state as well, but its hard to say if its worth it with all the legal fees and such you would incure.

I've noticed that lawyers prefer taking cases that are blatantly winnable rather than anything with any question to it.

tdean

i think im just going to tell the truth if asked. the place is small, its the owner, my old boss and the help desk guy. i was the network admin. i have a letter of recommendation from the help desk guy. i am an honest, hard worker... if a company doesnt want me b/c of that, then i dont want to work for them either... i just left that situation.