Ex Employer trying to damage my reputation

MissMotivation

ILW wrote: »

Are these clients people that you would have known if you had not worked for the previous employer?

They are clients that I gained when I was working for him that have been unhappy since I left. Since finding out I was back in the area and working for another company they have approached me. They are out of their contract period with him and are free to choose where to go.

ILW

MissMotivation wrote: »

They are clients that I gained when I was working for him that have been unhappy since I left. Since finding out I was back in the area and working for another company they have approached me. They are out of their contract period with him and are free to choose where to go.

You may get a rather unsympathetic hearing if it did go to court.

MissMotivation

ILW wrote: »

You may get a rather unsympathetic hearing if it did go to court.

Care to expand on this last comment?

I find it astonishing that through no fault of my own I am being harrassed and bad-mouthed and yet I am in the wrong for accepting instructions from clients who have no committment to him whatsoever!

I'm just trying to earn a living.....may I should give up work and claim benefits instead

Valli

MissMotivation wrote: »

I'm just trying to earn a living.....may I should give up work and claim benefits instead

By trading on contacts made in your previous employment which, your previous employer may well claim, is to his detriment.

I wonder if the people who are now using you for their business, instead of him, would want to be involved in a court case and support your claims?

Sambucus_Nigra

Valli wrote: »

By trading on contacts made in your previous employment which, your previous employer may well claim, is to his detriment.

I wonder if the people who are now using you for their business, instead of him, would want to be involved in a court case and support your claims?

Presumably, the best way of doing this would have been to stay with the old company. People work with people, and when good people move companies, clients sometimes want to stay working with good people. It's good business.

DVardysShadow

MissMotivation wrote: »

They are clients that I gained when I was working for him that have been unhappy since I left. Since finding out I was back in the area and working for another company they have approached me. They are out of their contract period with him and are free to choose where to go.

Their contract period with him is for them to worry about, not for you. Your worry is your contract period with him.

If you dealt with any of those people before your time was up, you should mentally prepare for compensating your ex employer for his losses. You might get lucky and have 1 or 2 prepared to say that they would not have done business with him. This would leave you still in the wrong, with a judgement against you if it went to court, but a nice little problem in terms of setting damages, which you could argue would be less than the value of the business your boss would [not] have got. Cold comfort really.

MissMotivation

I've had some advice today which confirms what a previous poster said about his actions bordering on harassment.

Like I said before, I'm just trying to earn a living given the current job situation it was either this job or JSA.

Valli

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Presumably, the best way of doing this would have been to stay with the old company. People work with people, and when good people move companies, clients sometimes want to stay working with good people. It's good business.

Not for the old company though, hence the clause in the employment contract.

TBH OP if your former employer has a genuine grievance he should be pursuing it through the proper channels. And you can counter claim for libel/slander (as appropriate;))

Sambucus_Nigra

Valli wrote: »

Not for the old company though, hence the clause in the employment contract.

TBH OP if your former employer has a genuine grievance he should be pursuing it through the proper channels. And you can counter claim for libel/slander (as appropriate;))

Yes, for 6 months. That was in January. It's now August.

Valli

Former employer could still bring a claim if it can be shown the OP did break their agreement.