The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that both the claimant's former and prospective employers committed discrimination arising from disability when a negative verbal reference resulted in a job offer being withdrawn.
The High Court has held that a college was liable to a former employee for negligent misstatement when, six years after his departure, it sent a derogatory email to his new employer that led to his dismissal.
In this case, the industrial tribunal in Northern Ireland ordered a care worker's former employer to pay her £9,500 for sex discrimination after it failed to provide her with a reference.
In Legal & General Assurance Ltd v Kirk [2002] IRLR 124 CA, the Court of Appeal held that a case based on negligent misstatement must involve a statement, such as a reference, to a third party. It ruled that the duty to take reasonable care in preparing references does not extend to cover a situation in which no negligent reference has in fact been given.
In Cox v Sun Alliance Life Ltd, the Court of Appeal holds that an employer was, through one of its employees, in breach of its duty to take reasonable care to provide an accurate and fair reference for a former employee, who resigned before the employer had completed pending disciplinary proceedings involving investigations into allegations of misconduct.