Legal Question in Employment Law in Massachusetts

Privacy with respect to ''potential liabilities''

I was recently laid-off from my job, a failing dot-com start-up.

One week after I left, a woman who had been a close friend of mine at work was summoned to speak to the Director of HR. He then asked her to tell him ''everything personal'' I had ever told her. The reason he gave for this was that he was afraid I would sue the company and he needed to ''know everything.'' He insisted, and my friend, fearing for her job, told him a number of things I had told her in confidence, which the HR director then told others, which got back to me...you get the point.

My question is, is what he asked her legal? Did he have LEGAL grounds for butting into my personal life? And presumably, since he is HR Director, he knows I had no case for wrongful termination, as I was an employee at will.


Asked on 12/21/00, 2:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

William McLeod McLeod Law Offices, PC

Re: Privacy with respect to ''potential liabilities''

I would really need to know more about what information was told to him by your friend. My guess is that the HR director is under the impression that you do have a case against the company - which means that there may be something that you aren't looking at. In other words, some facts that you do not think are all that relevant, but in fact reveal that the company's actions were not lawful. Therefore, unless he was just interested in getting to know you, methinks there's something else going on.

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Answered on 12/26/00, 11:40 pm


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