Lynne Curry: A bad reference and an ugh internship

Q: I started a job search because I'd felt my position was going to be eliminated. When I asked my former supervisor, she admitted she was planning to outsource my duties. So I found a better job and gave two weeks' notice. My supervisor wished me well.

Soon after I started my new job, my former supervisor called me and asked that she be able to call me whenever she had questions. She didn't offer any compensation. I let her know I had just started a new job and would get back to her later that week.

One year into my new job, I was laid off. After I had several interviews that seemed like home runs but received no job offers, I called the last interviewer. She said my former supervisor had badmouthed me and implied I was not to be trusted. What can I do?

A: Do you have one or more reference letters from your most recent employer? If so, they'll be more persuasive than oral bad-mouthing from your year-earlier supervisor.

If not, learn more specifics concerning what your former supervisor now alleges and why. Your suspicions may prove accurate, that your former supervisor resents how you handled her call. Most departing employees offer to answer questions from their former supervisor or the employees who replace them.

Alternatively, you may learn that your former supervisor wished you well because she wasn't as happy with your performance as you thought. Whatever her reasons, if you call her and she learns you're aware of her negative discussions, she may provide a more neutral reference.

If she continues to describe you negatively, you can best combat this by hitting a home run in your interviews and providing multiple positive references that dilute the impact of her words.

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Q: I interned this summer in a downtown Anchorage office. Ahead of time, I was excited about the opportunity. The chair of my department, the man who will grade my thesis in the fall, has been a friend of the managing partner since college days, which is why I landed this premier internship.

I learned a lot: how to dodge the senior partner's wandering hands, put up with comments about perky breasts, and work on projects despite daily humiliation. I'm now back in school, and asked to report on the internship.

What do I do? If I tell the truth, I fear what will happen to my thesis. I've been told interns have no rights. Is that true?

A: You can potentially strike a balance by writing a sanitized report outlining the technical aspects of your education, and noting that you've chosen not to cover the internship's interpersonal dynamics.

This may, of course, pique your department chair's interest, leaving you at the same crossroads. Do you lie by omission? In addition to what this does to your self-respect, how will you feel if next year's intern lacks your ability to evade the managing partner, who has potentially grown bolder by another year of escaping detection?

Or do you take a risk? Your department chair may have no clue how his friend treats females. If your department chair asks questions, you can respectfully let him know the male/female situation required deft navigation. If you sense he views you as credible, tell him the truth, that the sexual harassment you experienced made this internship at best a mixed blessing.

As you've heard, the anti-discrimination protections that cover employees don't always extend to volunteers or interns. You may, however, have recourse in Alaska or the state where you're attending school. For example, in June of 2015, the Connecticut legislature extended workplace harassment, discrimination and retaliation protection to unpaid interns. You can explore this situation by calling the Anchorage Equal Rights Commission or the Alaska Human Rights Commission.

According to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, anti-discrimination protection may cover interns if the intern receives "significant remuneration," which could include access to professional certification or benefits from a third party -- such as your educational institution. Other factors that weigh in favor of you attaining employee coverage as an intern include whether you performed work that was part of the employer's regular business and whether the employer controlled when, where and how you performed your work. You can also check out whether you qualify for employee protection by calling the Department of Labor and asking if your summer program truly qualifies as an internship or if you were actually a de facto employee.

Finally, don't assume your department chair will side with his friend; he may instead be disgusted by the behavior you describe.

Lynne Curry | Alaska Workplace

Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of “Navigating Conflict,” “Managing for Accountability,” “Beating the Workplace Bully" and “Solutions,” and workplacecoachblog.com. Submit questions at workplacecoachblog.com/ask-a-coach/ or follow her on workplacecoachblog.com, lynnecurryauthor.com or @lynnecurry10 on X/Twitter.

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