CABL Forum - Re: very serious question- extended

Here's a tid-bit I just came across, by Adam Hanft: President of Hanft Byrne Raboy, a Manhatten-based advertising/marketing firm:

"... Once upon a time, the reference check offered reliable protection against serial exaggerators and smooth talkers. Sure, you could pad your list of references with favorable friends and amicable associates, but a savvy cross-examiner could always ferret out some truths. And besides, one reference check usually would lead to a network of others, a desk-to-desk search that yielded some measure of objectivity. A single bad reference didn't mean much -- who among us hasn't incinerated a bridge somewhere along the way? -- but a pattern of "hard to work with" was telling. It's a great informal system."

"-- it's been killed by litigation. Or, more accurately, the fear of it.
While the risk of getting sued for defamation because of a bad reference is real, the greater risk is that a defamation charge could be wrapped into a wrongful-termination claim. Those lawsuits are commonplace, so rather than taking a chance, employers are taking the just-say-no route. And here's an acrid irony: even if you want to give a positive recommendation, you can be too gushing and be sued for something called negligent misrepresentation..."

"Ironically, at a time when getting an objective assessment has become more difficult, the consequences of hiring the wrong person have begun to have legal ramifications of their own. Have you heard of "negligent hiring"? It's what happens when you don't conduct enough due diligence on a hire and your investors sue you."

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Grist: The Sad End of the Bad Reference

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Re: very serious question- extended