Advice Required Very Sensitive Situation

beyer78

A family member was dismissed for something they did not do some time ago now.
They had made a complaint about a HR  managers friend who worked for the same company.
Family member was dismissed on jumped up claims.
Now it has come to light the HR person has been contacting multiple organisations and has replied to references making the awful allegations that my family member was dismissed for possession of drugs on duty and I do apologise in advance if this upsets or offends said that they also downloaded child !!!!!! whilst employed there.
That is utterly wrong they have not even had as much as a parking ticket let alone a criminal record.
What can be done?.
Is it a matter for the police to look into?.
Family member has requested copies of these references and emails but has been told sorry you won't be getting any copies it is a data protection issue.

General_Grant

How has it "come to light"?
Who have they asked for the copies - the sending or receiving organisation?

Being in possession of drugs on the employer's premises or downloading improper images wouldn't lead to a criminal record unless the police had been involved.  (I'm not saying it happened, only that the one doesn't necessarily lead to the other.) 

beyer78

It came to light as one of the organisation's that received one email contacted my family members former employer.
The former employer gave the receiving organisation my family members phone number and they called my family member to make them aware.
No absolutely no did my family member ever do what was said in those references or emails.
They were dismissed because the person they made the complaint about accused my FM of swearing at them which was untrue and no witnesses.
But the HR person sided with their friend.

theoretica

I don't suppose they are a union member? 

I wonder about trying to get a copy of the reference sent back to the head of HR at the old employer with a question of if it matches the reference on file and their work record.  It shouldn't violate data protection to send something back to the organisation that officially generated it.

tacpot12

This is a civil matter so not something that they can go to the police about. They should investigate the cost of suing the perpetrator for libel. 

Your family member needs to find out if there is a legal basis on which the organisations that they have applied for jobs to can be forced to retain and then release the evidence of the libel to your family member. If they have home insurance, they might have legal expenses cover. I don't think this will cover them if they sue for libel, but they should be able to get some basic advice on what to do immediately to prevent evidence being destroyed or lost if it might be needed for a civil case.
They might also ask about what the previous employer might be sued for, as a threat to sue the employer will get them to stop any unlawful activity by their employee. 

Savvy_Sue

I agree with tacpot, find out what legal remedies are available, but I'm confused.

So the HR manager at the previous employer is sending out emails which are NOT in response to a reference request, and the previous employer is now aware of this? And the previous employer, on being made aware of this, gave your family member's contact details to a potential employer? That seems like a really odd thing to do: if my employer found out that someone who was not authorised to do so had given a reference of any kind, that person would be in deep doodah, but I think when we contacted the former employee we'd be making it clear how we'd attempt to rectify the situation. 

Is your family member working elsewhere now? Or still job-hunting? 

You say they were dismissed some time ago - how long? Did they appeal the dismissal? 

Manxman_in_exile

beyer78 said:

It came to light as one of the organisation's that received one email contacted my family members former employer.
The former employer gave the receiving organisation my family members phone number and they called my family member to make them aware.
...

I'm afraid I don't understand this either?

So your relative used to be employed by company A but was sacked some time ago.  A representative of HR at company A has been contacting other companies (eg companies X & Y) telling them lies about why your relative was sacked.  One of the companies (let's say company X) then contacts company A, and for some reason company A gives your relative's 'phone number to company X so that they can contact your relative and tell him that company A is telling lies about them?

Without understanding more about the circumstances, I fail to understand why company X would contact company A - unless it was to confirm that company A had reported your relative's alleged serious criminal activities to the police rather than just sacking them?  And I do not understand at all why company X would want your relative's 'phone number or why company A would give it to company X - unless both companies knew the allegations were malicious and untrue.

Presumably someone at company X would be willing to make a statement about the false allegations made by the HR rep from company A as they've already told your relative?

Go to a lawyer with evidence of what company X says they were told by company A.

If the allegations being made against your relative are as serious and repugnant as you say - and your relative has clear evidence that these things are being said about him - I wouldn't be surprised if it went further than being a civil matter.  I think I'd be reporting the false allegations to the police.

mrsS_2

I’m also confused.  Surely if your family member applied for a job that needs a reference they would put their phone number on the application form and the company would not need to contact a previous employer to get the number.    How else are you going to let a prospective employee know they need to come in for an interview?     

Manxman_in_exile

mrsS_2 said:

I’m also confused.  Surely if your family member applied for a job that needs a reference they would put their phone number on the application form and the company would not need to contact a previous employer to get the number.    How else are you going to let a prospective employee know they need to come in for an interview?     

I think the HR person at the former employer is not just telling people asking for a reference - they appear to be telling other "organisations" too.  How those other organisations are selected is not clear.  It's one of these other organisations that appears to have contacted the relative.

beyer78 said:

...
Now it has come to light the HR person has been contacting multiple organisations and has replied to references making the awful allegations ...

MalMonroe

beyer78 said:

It came to light as one of the organisation's that received one email contacted my family members former employer.
The former employer gave the receiving organisation my family members phone number and they called my family member to make them aware.
No absolutely no did my family member ever do what was said in those references or emails.
They were dismissed because the person they made the complaint about accused my FM of swearing at them which was untrue and no witnesses.
But the HR person sided with their friend.

This is totally out of line. There are guidelines and rules about what employers can and cannot say about former employees.  And for the company to say they cannot supply copies of references of emails when they distribute your FM's phone number to anyone who asks is totally out of order. 

If your family member really did do all they are accused of then the former employer should have reported it to the police. Downloading child !!!!!! is an offence in the UK. https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/indecent-and-prohibited-images-children

If I were your family member, I would report this matter to the police myself as it is extremely serious. The former employer should be reported for defamation of character at the very least. Police cannot ignore an accusation of downloading child !!!!!! as that is NOT a civil matter. To accuse someone of it is also a legal, rather than civil, matter. 

If the former employer can prove that what they say is true, your relative could end up never being able to find a job ever again. It's not difficult to investigate the authenticity of such claims. 

What on earth has your relative done to these people to incur all this wrath???

MalMonroe

General_Grant said:

How has it "come to light"?
Who have they asked for the copies - the sending or receiving organisation?

Being in possession of drugs on the employer's premises or downloading improper images wouldn't lead to a criminal record unless the police had been involved.  (I'm not saying it happened, only that the one doesn't necessarily lead to the other.) 

Both being in possession of drugs AND downloading child pornography on an employer's premises can lead to a criminal record and the police should have been involved had the employer in this case suspected it.

I once worked with a consultant physician who locked himself in his consulting room and downloaded child !!!!!! during his lunchtimes at work. He was found out, reported and needless to say he's not a doctor anymore.