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Hello, My question is: I was hired by a company on a position of a Senior Accountant/Controller with the task to transfer all of company's financial and accounting operations in-house from an external accountant. During my very short employment ( two months), I have not been given a full access to the accounting information and/or documentation, and the owners did let me do anything except Accounts Payables and Payroll, as well as cost tracking for some of the projects. There were no errors in my jobs or complains, and no one told me anything about doing it wrong. If I had minor mistakes, typos, etc. I fixed it right away. Furthermore, I was trying to fix some of the mistakes the external accountant did, or tried to make suggestions regarding financial statement's presentation, and was criticized heavily for this by the accountant. I was trying to talk to the owner, but he never had time or just did not care saying that he was busy. Then I was fired, and they gave me a very bad reference. This reference is a complete misrepresentation of my employment and full of lies about my professional skills and qualifications. I want to know if anything can be done here to fix this situation as such reference makes my job search almost impossible, and I do not want to have an unexplained gap on my resume. Thank you
Optional Information: Province/Territory relating to question: British Columbia Already Tried: Consulted with a lawyer
I am sorry this happened.
You can stop some from lying but you cannot stop someone from providing an opinion even if it's unfair.
And you cannot require someone to prove you with a positive reference.
So it would see the best thing to do is gloss over the 2 months.
OK, I see... I just can not understand...
I was told the same form one of the lawyer, but then my collegue told me that I can go to court, because it was a lie.
and I was confused about it
You can sue for defamation if there are lies that are being stated as facts. But you cannot sue if it's being expressed as an opinion.
And suing would get you damages but not get you a good letter.
Suing takes a long time and is very expensive.
You cannot sue for defamation in Small Claims Court.
ok... is it possible ot sue? how is the process work?
You would have to hire a lawyer.
yes, I understand that I would have to take it to Civil Court... my concern is about the grounds for the claim
and is there a time frame?
Did the lawyer see the letter?
There is at least 2 years to sue.
not, she did not want to see it... she was a labour lawyer and she said that it dd not worth it
OKSo you have to see a civil litigation lawyer who has to read the letter to see if they are lies or opinion.
Do you know how to find a lawyer?
ok... I will manage finding the lawyer.
It's worth having a lawyer read the letter.
yes, I understand. Thank you
You are very welcome.\
bye :)
Take good care.
Please rate me before you go!
yes, I will
Experience: Lawyer
Hi Debra,sorry to bother you, but I do have a doubt about the price of the question.It just came to me that I needed to talk to a civil lawyer here who could provide me with a specific answer to my problem, not jsut a general advice.
We are not permitted to provide legal advice online.That would be practicing law.We cannot practice law online.And no lawyer can advise you without reading the letter.You have to see a lawyer face to face for a legal consultation to get legal advice.
OK, I see.It just does not seem right price for the advice to see another lawyer.
I provided you with much more than the advice to see a lawyer.I explained about the law of defamation.And after explaining the law you said that it was just what another lawyer said so you know it's right. You then said you could not understand it and so I spent a long time chatting with you until you understood the law.And you had to have known I could not assess the facts.Not only can I not see the letter but our Terms of Service are clear and in many ways you are clearly told that this is for information and not advice. You are a senior accountant and not someone uneducated who would not understand the Terms of Service.And as an accountant you could answer general questions but could you actually advise someone online?That would be impossible and irresponsible.But I told you the law and said that if the letter is only an opinion you will not succeed in suing. And I also said that suing is expensive and that you cannot do it on your own as it needs to be done in superior court rather than small claims court.But you know that you cannot have a lawyer act for you online so you have to see a lawyer for your next step if you want to go ahead and I certainly cannot act for you.Does that not make more sense now?
Well, yes... you did you job, did answer the question.Thank you
You are very welcome.Have a good night and take good care.