A court ruled on whether the employer may find out about the misconduct of an employee at her former employer. Tenor: Not without a valid justification – otherwise personal rights will prevail.
An employer cannot simply inform a former employee's new job of her misconduct. This is shown by a judgment by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Labor Court (Az.: 6 Sa 54/22), to which "Haufe.de" refers.
In the specific case, it was about allegations against a nurse. After her resignation, the manager of her former employer decided to warn her new workplace about her.
According to his statements, the woman was absent from work without an excuse and got the new job with false information in her CV. As the article states, the employer argued in court that the managing director wanted to protect the new employer and its customers from his ex-employee.
The nurse, however, denied the allegations and demanded that the defamatory statements to potential new employers be stopped. The LAG Rhineland-Palatinate agreed with the woman - as did the lower court.
With his call, the former employer violated her personal rights. Even if his allegations were true, he had nothing to do with passing on the information. In addition, the false statements in the CV were not information about the woman's performance and behavior.
In addition, the ex-employer did not warn the woman because of her misconduct. The man only made the accusations after she was fired. The judges got the impression that the entrepreneur only wanted to harm his former employee with the call.
According to the court, employers are not fundamentally prevented from passing on information about the performance and behavior of employees who have left the company - even against their will. For example, when it comes to supporting other employers in safeguarding their interests. However, personal rights must always be weighed against the interests of others.
