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An economist who acted like an “intellectual snob” and called his coworkers at a private forecasting company “stupid” has failed in his efforts to sue the Ontario company for defamation, after he was given a negative reference when he applied for a new job.

The decision of Ontario Superior Court “dispels the notion that an employer is bound to limit its comments to only the positive attributes of an employee when agreeing to provide a reference,” said Gurlal Kler, who defended Stokes Economic Consulting.

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It has become common practice for employers not to comment on former employees at all, beyond confirming a person’s work in the most neutral terms. The failure of Papp’s defamation lawsuit shows this approach is overly cautious.

A reference check enjoys the protections provided by qualified privilege

“Because employers are so fearful that they’re going to be exposed to some defamation lawsuit, they’ve now narrowed the context of the reference to only confirming the individual’s position and job duties,” Kler said. “That’s not what a reference is supposed to be … This decision reaffirms that a reference check enjoys the protections provided by qualified privilege, which allows the employer to provide an honest reference and not expose itself to liability for the reference check.”