Felt being Black Balled from Ex-Employer

I got hired 11 months ago which I thought I would re establish my career and have an opportunity to advance. I've been in a medical administrative field for almost 10 plus years. I've had a couple of gaps during the time, had a child, stayed home, took care of two other children.

Anyway, I landed this job. The Manager I thought was really nice. She treated me with respect and praised me with my job duties. I knew what I was doing, she appreciated me. She even sent me a card that I was a great Asset to the Company! Months came, one girl quit, we gained another account. I was basically handling accounts that was impossible. I was only working 32 hours a week. I was expected to do my job and completed them within a week. In addition of a new account. I asked to see if I could work full time but I wasn't given that opportunity. to make the long story short, I was pulled in her office on 9/11/08 and told me that I need to write a resignation letter. It would be better for the future employers to see that. Well, I've been in to a couple of job interviews and used her as my previous employer. Well, I either get no phone call or left a message that they can't hire me. I'm assuming that she's bad mouthing me. I can't believe that!!! Well any way, I've filed for unemployment. I'm hoping to have that because...I need money coming in. I'm scared and worried, especially I have children that I need to take care of... I'm looking for other jobs, my mother in law told me that I should take out my previous employer. If I was asked why I haven't worked. I can say I was babysitting or trying to complete my school.

I had co workers that were my friends, but now, I don't know if they are. I felt humiliated and belittled. Can that be discriminated?

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thelma (10/15/2008) IMHO, don't put her down as a reference. Find other references. It sounds like you did something to peeve this woman. It may have had nothing to do with your workload. It's possible she set you up. Although it's not quite kosher, I'm leaning toward removing that job from your resume completely. CK (10/15/2008) There are a few things that come to mind. One, if you resigned then you also forefit any unemployment benefits - sorry! Two, if you think that you are being blackballed, you would need some type of proof. I would recommend that you have a friend (one that sounds VERY business-like) make a call and ask for a reference. Have some questions listed that would be in line with a real job. Find out what was said. If she tell you negitive things (make sure it is in detail!) make sure that this is all recorded (not take recorded but written) with as much detail as possible. Quote what was said as best as possible. Have your friend write it down is even better and go over it in detail to make sure nothing is lost, misinterpreted, or implied. If your ex-boss is giving a nevitive feed-back then I would contact a lawyer or if you're running on the cheap, a law student. Granted, a law student cannot give you legal advice BUT may give you some "legal guidance." If you determine that you have a legal advantage then you can sue (but that could cost you money) or call the ex and explain what you have on her, that you have talked to a lawyer and to stop of you will have to persue this further in a court of law - period! dontask 0 (10/15/2008) CK's advice is the most workable. A pity that you did not ask jobschmob before you wrote your resignation. Saw this done to a pregnant lady during my first years on a job. We kept in touch It did look as if resigning from a job makes it even harder to find another. In my case it took years to find the real badmouth culprit of my past employers. In retrospect I should have guessed. He or his mother accused all their employees of theft, when they should have monitored their family members. I used all unemployment compensation and was fired from several jobs within weeks without explanation. The next employer did not fire me but every now and then clumsy attempts were made to trap me and I started to hunt for a reason. bittersweet (10/15/2008) I may take you up on that. I'll call one of my friends and call my ex. To see if she really gave negative information. I appreciate that. bittersweet (10/15/2008) well, in addition to my story, did I mentioned that the company was audited four days before I was forced to resign? I would have thought that when I was forced to resign that I would assume to have a reference from THAT employer? I felt this was unfair on my end. I left the office without making a scene and kept it professional. I cooperated. But I guess that's how they are, cold, no remorse and don't care. RIGHT? Sympathetic reader (10/16/2008) After working there a year would you have received any benefits? My husband worked for a family owned company. Nearly, everytime someone was about to be vested in their pension they got fired. We didn't make this connection, one of the office workers let my husband know this after the fact. Did your boss give you any specific reason why she wanted you to resign? bittersweet (10/16/2008) I didn't bring enough money collections for the past three months. I had no idea I had to meet a quota. I was there for 11 months, I had a week and half of vacation pay and unfortunately. I have to be there for a year to earn it, so I couldn't get my vacation pay as well. Let alone giving out bad references. I'm hoping to get some kind of legal advice if I need to pursue a lawsuit for discrimination. I'm also a minority. CK (10/16/2008) Something STINKS! You have to be there a year to collect on your vacation, they ask you to quit - Gee, ALL in THEIR favor! Think about it! bittersweet (10/16/2008) That's what I'm saying, something wasn't right... I filed for unemployment anyway and explained to them what happened and why I was forced to quit. CK (10/17/2008) Let us know what happens! exemployeehere (10/31/2008) I had an employer who out of the blue told me I was salary and he expected me to work 16 hours a day, seven days a week. A recent interview, and the questions I got, along with the indifferent attitude I got from the prospective employer, got me to recognize past problems not getting a new job. Not sure I have a case against him, but it is a little hard having a 4 year void in your resume probably not discrimination (11/06/2008) nothing about this description sounds like discrimination. i would be looking at that audit. were you ever interviewed by the auditor? if so, did you say something that negatively impacted them? if not, could they have been afraid that you would if they didn't get rid of you? if you did say something, you might be protected under a "whistleblower statute" which protects employees who report negative stuff to authorities. unfortunately, i have never heard of a case of "keeping it professional" when forced to quit going well for the employee. no one benefits from that but the employer. i had a situation where i left a job on bad terms and i actually talked to a lawyer about it. bad news. even if they're saying shit about you, there is little you can do about it but show lost wages, and that's even harder than finding out what they're saying because you'd need the cooperation of the prospective employers who decided not to hire you and of course they'd prefer to just not get involved with an employee with a sketchy history. now, i would be wondering if perhaps, if they are bad mouthing you anyway, you might want to contact the auditors and give them information that could harm the company. Nurzkat (03/10/2009) Well here's a story- I had 11.5 years vested in this hospital- New Grad- Probationary Nurse-My admin knew about all of it still hired me and was very encouraging about my growth/soberity. Well, once I realized I was not being paid correctly and there was time card fraud, and I became a strong advocate for myself and others-Hum- they started treating me differently and retaliated against me, with many LOA'S, w/o pay, some with-and once my spouse died- they kicked me even more knowing I was down. Know they are getting ready to defamate my character- and help the BRN take my license-it has all gotten personal and ugly. The sad part is it was and it true, and I can prove it. However, no one so far has the ball's to help me legaly- and be my advocate. What have we become? POST A COMMENT »