Boy I need help with something (not financial)

[demnan]

I am a web developer on a team. The other web developer decided to use me as his reference and stated that I was his supervisor (which is untrue, I'm just the tech lead on the contract). He went on an interview last week. Well the people who want to hire him are asking for a reference.

Here's my problem: I would definately give this guy a mixed review. He is very intelligent but is lazy. He has to be prodded to get work done, he's often late for work, more often than not. His focus is on getting as much expensive hardware as the contract will support so he has toys to play with. When he does do work, he can make incredible inroads into a technical problem, but more often than not he will drop the ball in dealing with the clients.

I'm pissed that he listed me as his supervisor, for one and for the rest of it, how can he expect me to give him a glowing review? I hate to be forced into a situation where I must lie.

So how would you handle this situation?

[searchingforlight]

1. Just tell them you are not his supervisor. It is the truth.

People get away with lies by making other people lie. A good example of this is our pResident.

[Dookus]

2. I'd be careful....

the safest thing to do is tell them the truth about your non-supervisory relationship and not answer any other questions other than to confirm that yes, you work with him.

He did a lousy thing putting you in this position.

Now... on the other hand.... if you don't like working with him, give him a glowing review and hope he gets the other job :)

[demnan]

6. Thank you

Maybe I will just not answer any questions except to say I'm not his supervisor. Although I have worked places where I wanted to be gone and have asked people as co-workers as a favor to be a reference, I've never lied about who was my supervisor. Scott never asked me, he told me he used my name afterward.

I can't in good conscience recommend this employee. I have discussed his problems with our supervisor and frankly he does try my patience. However, I consider professional honesty to be very important to me, and I don't lie to people in my business life (which is one reason why I'm probably not promoted to be a manager or something). ;-)

[rogerashton]

14. That's reason enough to say nothing.

" Scott never asked me, he told me he used my name afterward."

That's rude and stupid.

I had an experience like that years ago and the guy failed to get tenure at the institution that then employed him. Poor loser had to settle for tenure at Yale. Quel dommage!

[Heddi]

17. READ THIS

DO NOT SAY ANYTHING EXCEPT:

I am not his supervisor, although I did work with him on projects.

In many states, even a SUPERVISOR cannot say ANYTHING except:

yes/no they worked for me
they worked here X years/months/days
they made $X an hour/year/month

I know this from being quite intimate with state Wage & Labour boards over my very short time being an employed adult.

ONLY IF THEY ASK can a supervisor say:

he was late for work
he didn't do all of his tasks that were required of him
he called out often.

YOU CANNOT VOLUNTEER THIS INFORMATION---ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY if you are not his supervisor.

Even though he listed you (fraudulently) as his supervisor, the state (generally) has very very strict guidelines regarding what can, and what cannot be said during a job reference.

If you 'volunteer' information (about his being late, being lazy, taking a piss under his desk every day), and he doesn't get the job, he can still SUE YOU for unfair job references, and whether or not he'll win is another story, but the fact is you will most likely have to go to court.

DO NOT ANSWER ANYTHING!!!!

Tell them upfront you are not his supervisor, and give them the name of the person who is.

There is no reason to put yourself in a very contrived position for someone who didn't even ASK you beforehand if they could use you in such a manner. There's also no reason to risk your job because you claimed to be someone you weren't---I'm sure YOUR supervisor, and his REAL SUPERVISOR wouldn't be too happy to know you were playing Grown-Up on an issue you shouldn't be.

Let him list you as a personal reference---THEN, and only then, can you say "well, when I worked WITH him, he was often late, he peed at his desk, he smelled funny and ate scabs", etc etc

[rbnyc]

18. Yep!

Thanks for saving me the trouble of posting that important info.

[Democat]

3. Be careful or you could get sued

If you tell them bad things about this guy, even if they are true, you could be opening yourself up to legal risks.

[MissMillie]

4. I'd give him a good reference... not raving, but good

He asked you if he could use your name. If you weren't going to give a glowing recommendation, you should have told him that he should probably ask someone else.

[demnan]

8. Actually he didn't ask

he did it and told me afterward.

[MissMillie]

10. oops

I think I read your post wrong. I thought you had said he asked you if he could use you as a reference.

Nevermind

[ArkDem]

5. Tell the truth

. It will set you free.

[nini]

7. Tell them your job doesn't allow you to give a reference

my job won't allow us to give any info other than to confirm employment.

It's a common practice for companys and will get you off the hook.

good luck.

[northzax]

9. well what I do

with references theses days is simply to state the time they worked there, their duties and their salary scale. volunteer no negative information, if they ask "was Charles on time?" reply "I don't have access to his personell file to confirm that." evade, evade, evade. they'll get the picture.

[trof]

11. Did he ask you beforehand?

If he could list you as a reference?
If not:
1. That's very tactless and rude. ALWAYS ask before you put someone down as a reference.
2. There's your out. "Joe, I wish you'd talked to me before you did this. You're a nice guy and all and a hell of a technical problem solver, but I have to say that you....(and list the shortcomings).
You've really put me on the spot here."

on edit-p.s. yeah, what northzax said.

[rock]

12. Lie

You got something against good ol' Murkan enterprise. I'm serious. Always give good references.

[freethought]

13. Dido! Tell them that

You are not really his supervisor and you are not in a position of authority to give a reference. Neither of the statements are false.
They can draw their own conclusions.

[amazona]

15. I would tell them...

...that I am not allowed by the company's attorney to do anything except confirm dates of employment.

I would sure as heck not get involved with this guy's resume inflation. Nor would I bust the guy -- you never know when you will need him to do the same for you.

[Kamika]

16. just say what you wrote here

sounds like you know exactly what to say

[demnan]

19. Thanks to all the suggestions

Here is what I did. I just stated that "Scott was a very competent programmer, since I did not supervise him I cannot comment on the other items" and I referred them to the personnel department.

Thanks to all the DU'ers who offered me helpful suggestions. It really helped me to get all your opinions and I appreciate everyone who responded.