We’ve all known about the possibility of being sued for giving former employees bad references. The former employee could sue you and collect if you couldn’t prove what you said was true. Now the court says the liability extends to good references, too, if not provably true.

Example: you give a good reference for a former worker, neglecting to mention problems that could be serious. The new employer has those same problems with their new hire, problems that turn out to be serious and that you knew about but didn’t disclose. Your reference is said to result in, or contribute to, the favorable hiring decision. The current employer may have grounds to sue you for giving a "good" but untrue reference.

One of LA’s top labor attorneys, Ken Florence of Swerdlow, Florence and Sanchez, says the only real defenses are:

• Give no references at all beyond name, rank and serial number, or
• Give references that are provably truthful (and being a good attorney, he wouldn’t elaborate without an actual fact situation to go on).

Our (not legally binding) recommendation: If you don’t have a working system of written performance evaluations, uniformly applied by all your managers, your ability to prove anything may be suspect. And if all your managers don’t follow your corporate guidance in giving references, they may be broadening your liability without your knowledge. Holy Moley, Batman! Maybe the only answer is to do it right.