To verify that the references are legitimate, call them through the main switchboard to verify their title and employment. The same legal constraints that govern interviewing apply to reference checking. You cannot inquire into marital status, age, disabilities, gender or other personal issues. Giving References A 1995 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that most employers limit information provided about former employees for fear of being sued. If given at all, references are restricted to dates of employment, salary and position held.
Employers often evade subjective opinions of an employee's performance.
In a typical reference defamation case, an employee alleges that his or her former employer gave false information about his or her abilities or previous job performance. This results in a prospective employer not making an offer of hire. Even riskier than providing negative information about a former employee, is providing favorable or incomplete post employment references about employees known to have engaged in violent or harassing conduct on the job. Employers are not compelled to provide references about ex-employees, even those engaged in violent misconduct. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the civil actions is that a former employer may be found liable for failing to disclose mere accusations of harassing conduct irrespective of whether those accusations were well-founded.