Defamation of character?

[Anonymous]

You work for someone and do a great job at what you do because your employer constantly tells you how happy she is with you then all the sudden she calls the agency you work for and tells them all these serious lies about you that never happened and say she no longer needs your service and the agency fires you without giving you a chance to speak. Then she not only got me fired from the agency I have worked for and have had only one small complaint before but she also tells the agency she will no longer pay my two weeks severance which is stated in our contract because I called one of her other employees that worked with me to talk about her and that I violated our confidentiality contract. What are your thoughts on this? Anything ok with this picture?

Back story:

I cant disclose much but only the most important details about what happened so you guys have some backstory in order to give me your opinion. The reason why I cant disclose much is because this was a high profile client. She signed up with the agency I worked for to hire me but in reality the agency got the check to only give her my phone number because they did not find me the job. Since I met her at a job through the agency she had to go through the agency to hire me. This is the way it works and because I am always very honest I honored my contract with the agency and sent her through the agency. Anyway, my employer was amazing, always got me gifts and did nice things to me, so nowhere in this world a clue was given that I was doing something wrong. We had a very little misunderstanding because she has expectation beyond the unreasonable, but I wasnt disrespectful to her or anything like that, she apologized and we kept it moving. I even asked if she was happy with my service and if she had any complaints and she said she was very happy with me. They were gone for a couple of weeks during the summer and in the meantime I was doing temp jobs with the agency. Three weeks later I get a call from the agency saying my employer called and said they will no longer need my services and I was speechless when they told me her reasons because the stuff she told them never happened, she twisted and turned things and trashed me to the agency. Her complaints were never about my job performance. The agency cancelled all the temp jobs I had lined up and told me they were going to make a decision and let me know.

When I got the call I was so shocked with everything that happened and nothing more than natural I called my co worker desperately crying to tell her I lost my job and the agency was going to fire me. I wasnt understanding what was happening and that was the conversation we had. My very loving boss calls the agency and say she will no longer pay my severance package because i called her employee to talk about her and that was a breach of the confidentially contract we had, mind you the contract states that I am not allowed to talk about anything personal I see or sell information that could cause damage to my boss. In my phone conversation was nothing more than me crying because I had no idea what I was going to do, never told her the things my ex boss told the agency. How DO i know this? She called the other employee with some BS excuse and told her I wasnt gonna work for her anymore and the poor women said "Yes I am sorry about that she called me crying desperate and she told me". Because of that the agency fired me as well. I was left high and dry, no job, no severance package and a dirty name. Mind you I have worked with hundreds of families through this agency and had only one complaint because I was sent to a job where the mom told me she was extremely sick and very contagious and I wasnt very happy I was sent to a job like this and I told them If i knew she was this sick at home and contagious I wouldve called the agency to get them someone else because I had a job for the following week with preemie twins and couldnt be exposed to any contagious disease.

The agency never called to or have me come in to hear my side of the story, just sent me an email saying their decision was made when I called the employee. There was nothing more to the conversation me and this lady had but a single mom desperate because I lost my job with the agency which was my main source of income.

I am not even sure anymore if this post will be a breach of contract even though no nome of anything is ever mentioned in here but I wouldnt be surprised if anyone in the agency see this post and will say I broke the contract because at this point nothing surprises me anymore.

Sorry for the long post but I felt like I was done so wrong and it was so unfair how I was treated by this agency who had such a high trust in me and treated me like I was some piece of garbage. People keep saying I could have a legal case but I chose to take the high road. Just wanted to hear from others in the same field what are your thoughts on this situation.

I am a very honest and loyal person and I expect people to be good. Things like this makes me lose faith in humanity and it broke me, it caused me so much damage but I am finally picking myself back up.

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry and hope you can get good advise from others.

[Anonymous]

If you would mention the agency, I bet they'd suddenly want to invite you over very quickly, as their behavior doesn't speak well of them.

[Anonymous]

This is why I won't work for an agency. I do better get jobs with normal people on my own. Agencies only care about themselves. I'd email a few emolument law attornies and get an opinion on whether you have a case. They'll tell you via email for free what they think.

[Anonymous]

What kind of agencies are you all going through? Is nannies or au pairs? I'm a nanny and once I got the job the agency and I had no ties to one another unless I want to. The agency fired you op?

[Anonymous]

OP here- it is a nanny agency and yes they fired me.

[Anonymous]

I am not a lawyer but if what the MB said is untrue and you lost your job and were fired by the agency, then you definitely should see the an attorney. Make sure you see an attorney specializing in defamation and one who has an AV rating.

[Anonymous]

It is never fun to be fired but it happens every day. There is often drama and this is why managers get paid more than employers--to deal with all this s***.

What you went through, while sad, happens every day.

Have your moment of sadness, tears, whatever, get over it and get yourself a new job. Roll with it. Being a professional by acting this way is the best thing you can do for yourself.

[Anonymous]

I've been there OP. Luckily my MB said such crazy stuff that my agency rep knew that it wasn't and couldn't be true. Some High Profile families literally go through hundreds of nannies over the course of their children's lives, so it's likely not you.

Suing someone like this is hard, especially because they likely have unlimited funds and attorneys at their disposal.

[Anonymous]

You told someone who knew who your boss was, that she fired you. That makes her look bad. You breached the contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been there OP. Luckily my MB said such crazy stuff that my agency rep knew that it wasn't and couldn't be true. Some High Profile families literally go through hundreds of nannies over the course of their children's lives, so it's likely not you.

Suing someone like this is hard, especially because they likely have unlimited funds and attorneys at their disposal.

If what her former MB. Said about her was a lie and caused her to be fired and hinders her in finding new employment, then I would consult an attorney. It could well be that a letter. From a lawyer to MB and agency would mean a retraction from MB and a settlement from both.

OP's relationship with agency is demolished and her ability to fine employment as a nanny is also harmed.