5 ms·

This happened at my last company. It does in fact open you up to legal liabilities. The company had to settle 18 cases where applicants "disagreed" with the rea

by electic 12y ago

This happened at my last company. It does in fact open you up to legal liabilities. The company had to settle 18 cases where applicants "disagreed" with the reason of their rejection.

hluska 12y ago
I think it is a shame when trying to help people opens you up to liability. If that's not a sign that our society is too litigious, I don't know what is.
- WalterBright 12y ago
  It's also why companies do not apologize, except as part of a settlement. An apology is an admission of guilt, opening the company to liability.
  - acoleman616 12y ago
    Man, this country is really messed up sometimes...
    - click170 12y ago
      What's really messed up is that companies can lose a case in court, and then still not admit guilt or wrong doing. At that point, hasn't the court basically overruled them? They lost the court case. End of story (?)
      - WalterBright 12y ago
        Losing a civil case is not proof beyond reasonable doubt, but a 51% preponderance of evidence. A company can lose a case, and still not be guilty - why apologize for something you're not guilty of?
        Thrymr 12y ago
        Why not apologize for something you know you are guilty of? That's the real problem, that rarely happens (especially in the case of a corporation).
        wolfgke 12y ago
        At least in German the word "to apologize" ("sich entschuldigen"; although this translation, though often used, is considered to be impolite; if you are interested in the details read http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/zwiebelfisch-entschuldigen-sie-mich-sonst-tu-ich-es-selbst-a-433479.html http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/zwiebelfisch-entsc...) has "Schuld" ("guilt") in it. This implicitely states the belief that there exists a concept as guilt, which I don't, since I don't believe in free will.
      - rwallace 12y ago
        The law should not compel you to say something you believe to be false. If you lose a court case, it should be legal to say, "I still believe I did nothing wrong, but I will pay the penalty as the court has ordered."
sekasi 12y ago
That is incredibly depressing to hear. I'm glad I operate out of another country if this is the case.
midnightclubbed 12y ago
Can you go into any specifics as to what was (allegedly) said to the candidates? 18 cases sounds like the company was either interviewing thousands of applicants or giving very strong reasons for legal challenges.
- WalterBright 12y ago
  A person does not need 'very strong' reasons for legal challenges. They can be spurious, with the plaintiff hoping the company will find it cheaper to settle than defend themselves. A system where the loser pays the winner the amount the loser paid their own lawyers will stop most of this nonsense.
  - GauntletWizard 12y ago
    Loser pays sounds like a good system, and I'll admit your suggestion for amount makes a lot of sense, but what if the lawyer is working entirely on contingency, as many of these cases are?
    - WalterBright 12y ago
      The interesting thing about contingency is a lawyer isn't going to take on a frivolous lawsuit on contingency. A lawyer will only take one on that he knows he can win, otherwise it's a giant waste of the lawyer's time and money, which he won't do. So I don't think it would be a problem.
      - pandaman 12y ago
        This is true if contingency lawyers only charge their regular rate. Do they really? I thought they work for a stake in the award they are going to win. Otherwise, why would anybody take a case on contingency? There is no 100% guarantee of winning a civil case so it's effectively reducing your own rate since you are going to lose* some cases eventually (* you might even win every case but some of them did not get awarded enough money to pay the lawyer's fees).
dorfsmay 12y ago
I was looking for something like this. Regardless of how true the legal exposure is, every company I worked for claim this exact issue for not giving any reason. Been on the rwcicing end too, and felt that the whole exercise was a big waste of time considering the lack of feedback.

by electic 12y ago

This happened at my last company. It does in fact open you up to legal liabilities. The company had to settle 18 cases where applicants "disagreed" with the reason of their rejection.

hluska 12y ago

I think it is a shame when trying to help people opens you up to liability. If that's not a sign that our society is too litigious, I don't know what is.

WalterBright 12y ago
It's also why companies do not apologize, except as part of a settlement. An apology is an admission of guilt, opening the company to liability.
- acoleman616 12y ago
  Man, this country is really messed up sometimes...
  - click170 12y ago
    What's really messed up is that companies can lose a case in court, and then still not admit guilt or wrong doing. At that point, hasn't the court basically overruled them? They lost the court case. End of story (?)
    - WalterBright 12y ago
      Losing a civil case is not proof beyond reasonable doubt, but a 51% preponderance of evidence. A company can lose a case, and still not be guilty - why apologize for something you're not guilty of?
      - Thrymr 12y ago
        Why not apologize for something you know you are guilty of? That's the real problem, that rarely happens (especially in the case of a corporation).
        wolfgke 12y ago
        At least in German the word "to apologize" ("sich entschuldigen"; although this translation, though often used, is considered to be impolite; if you are interested in the details read http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/zwiebelfisch-entschuldigen-sie-mich-sonst-tu-ich-es-selbst-a-433479.html http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/zwiebelfisch/zwiebelfisch-entsc...) has "Schuld" ("guilt") in it. This implicitely states the belief that there exists a concept as guilt, which I don't, since I don't believe in free will.
    - rwallace 12y ago
      The law should not compel you to say something you believe to be false. If you lose a court case, it should be legal to say, "I still believe I did nothing wrong, but I will pay the penalty as the court has ordered."

sekasi 12y ago

That is incredibly depressing to hear. I'm glad I operate out of another country if this is the case.

midnightclubbed 12y ago

Can you go into any specifics as to what was (allegedly) said to the candidates? 18 cases sounds like the company was either interviewing thousands of applicants or giving very strong reasons for legal challenges.

WalterBright 12y ago
A person does not need 'very strong' reasons for legal challenges. They can be spurious, with the plaintiff hoping the company will find it cheaper to settle than defend themselves. A system where the loser pays the winner the amount the loser paid their own lawyers will stop most of this nonsense.
- GauntletWizard 12y ago
  Loser pays sounds like a good system, and I'll admit your suggestion for amount makes a lot of sense, but what if the lawyer is working entirely on contingency, as many of these cases are?
  - WalterBright 12y ago
    The interesting thing about contingency is a lawyer isn't going to take on a frivolous lawsuit on contingency. A lawyer will only take one on that he knows he can win, otherwise it's a giant waste of the lawyer's time and money, which he won't do. So I don't think it would be a problem.
    - pandaman 12y ago
      This is true if contingency lawyers only charge their regular rate. Do they really? I thought they work for a stake in the award they are going to win. Otherwise, why would anybody take a case on contingency? There is no 100% guarantee of winning a civil case so it's effectively reducing your own rate since you are going to lose* some cases eventually (* you might even win every case but some of them did not get awarded enough money to pay the lawyer's fees).

dorfsmay 12y ago

I was looking for something like this. Regardless of how true the legal exposure is, every company I worked for claim this exact issue for not giving any reason. Been on the rwcicing end too, and felt that the whole exercise was a big waste of time considering the lack of feedback.