AIBU to think my ex employers can’t do this?

[Wowsharona]

I recently accepted a settlement to leave my job after discriminatory comments were made to me on two occasions after announcing my pregnancy.

it was a good offer so didn’t want to go into a long drawn out tribunal process whilst pregnant.

I left last week, today I received a message from an ex colleague asking if my mother was ok. I was confused as my mother died years ago in my early teens.

turns out after I had been paid off and left (was an abrupt leaving due to the situation) 2 days after I had officially gone an email was sent from my work email address saying goodbye to everyone and telling them I was leaving to take care of my sick and elderly mother!

it ended with ‘I’m sorry this is abrupt but for my own mental health I am requesting no one reach out via linked in as I’d like to put all my energy into my family’

I’m absolutely fuming, AIBU to think although yes my email address is technically their property they can’t pretend to be me and email everyone?

What incentive does the employer have to trick the OP into breaching their NDA? That makes no sense.

An employer who has just rid themselves of a "problem" member of staff through a CA is hardly going to stir the pot by creating trouble where it doesn't exist.

This is a good idea. I'm still outraged about this, hours after first reading.

But wouldn't they just get IT dept to pull the emails from server and see who forwarded them and then sack the friend for breaching data confidentiality? Even if she deletes after sending it'll possibly still be retrievable.

They'd be able to get the money back. That's the point of an NDA - it's payable on condition of silence.

Speak to ACAS and get legal advice. They shouldn’t be sending emails pretending to be you regardless of the settlement agreement. I’m a trade union rep and I would be horrified if this happened at my work.

normally they just say you left by mutual agreement. Massive fuck up on their part.

Agreed that this is a risk. I would be SARing myself I think to avoid this risk.

Wait until you have got the money that was agreed as part of the SA. And then put in a claim to an ET for victimisation (a type of discrimination where you are treated badly because you complained about discrimination).

The agreement you signed CAN only cover things in the past. It's not possible to agree to sign away your right to not be discriminated against after signing it, so you are not breaching anything at all. Get the money, and then put in a SAR and an ET claim for victimisation. Try and see if a colleague will photo the message and send it to you privately.

OP you need to go back to the lawyer who advised you on the agreement.

1. If the SA has a mutual non derogatory/disparaging statement clause then they could be in breach of the SA. That could mean it’s now invalid (but this isn’t guaranteed and it will depend on the wording).

2. either way, does the SA only seek to settle claims arising at the date of the SA, or any claims (future included) in connection with employment or termination? If the former, you could have a potential victimisation claim that isn’t covered by the SA, which could mean you have an ET claim or further claim to settle with an additional agreement!

3. Did you agree an announcement/reference to be communicated? If so this could also be a breach…

Anyway - see if your lawyer will help you out. They should give you a brief phone chat even if they won’t take it further without payment…

And, (former DPO here) don’t narrow your SAR to the date the email was sent. That will make it too easy for them. Specify you want all your personal data including emails sent up to the day after email was sent, will be much more work for them. If the data from the email isn’t provided, then target that.

😀
I like the way you think

I like you! Genius!

I said probably precisely because damages for distress are a possibility though an unlikely outcome as 1) query whether this is a misuse of info claim as the issue is with use false info rather than misuse of true info; 2) costs to pursue such a claim are probably disproportionate to any possible damages; and 3) the OP seems to want to clarify the situation not go for damages.

No one expects to get fulsome legal advice from Mumsnet but there are cases like this where other MNers have relevant experience which can help the OP get started. Unnecessarily aggressive responses like yours put people off helping which is a shame.

When you sign an NDA, you agree to reveal nothing about the conditions of the settlement. If you do, you yourself can liable for legal action from your employer. Best she gets solicitor advice and let the solicitor handle it.

You aren’t helping when you say you are a lawyer and give legally incorrect advice though! Which you have continued to do! There is no reason for the OP to believe either of us of course but I’m also a lawyer with more than 20 years experience in this actual area of the law!

McKennitt v Ash is the authority you need to look at to satisfy yourself that I am 100% correct when I say that the info disclosed does not need to be true and in fact the claimant does not need to specify whether the info is true or false. It just needs to be the kind of information which has a character of private information.

As I have advised already, the likely damages award here is in excess of £20k and the OP would also be entitled to payment of her legal costs. So no the costs of pursuing this would not be disproportionate to what she would recover. Nor are they limited by the actual financial loss incurred by the claimant (that’s not even the starting point for assessing them).

OP did not at any point say her only or even her main objective was to clarify the situation. She rightly said she was outraged by her former employer’s actions and asked for advice on what to do.

@Wowsharona have a read of this Advice note from the leading barrister’s chambers dealing with this kind of issue. Unlike a random on the internet you can at least be confident they are who they say they are and have the knowledge and experience in this area of the law. @Newusernametostayanon may or may not be a lawyer in real life but if she is, she very clearly does not practice in this area of the law and she has given you negligent advice and for whatever reason of her own she is persisting in doing so even when this has been pointed out to her.

https://www.5rb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Privacy-law—misuse-of-private-information.pdf

It can't apply to conduct that happens after the date of the agreement. And it wouldn't be clever of the employers to seek to recover their money, because it would leave the NDA free to disclose their discriminatory conduct.

Employers always bank on employees, current and former, not knowing the law. I am a union rep, and have seen all sorts of things employers have tried to do. Best she let her solicitor handle it and put an end to the nonsense so she can move on with her life.

Hi - HR manager here. This is not on. Yes, the settlement agreement you have will be very lengthy, however the majority of this is technically "standard" terms. There will be more things, as standard, weighted against yourself that you have effectively agreed to accept a lump sum (plus any other terms) in order to NOT raise a claim against them. This will be even more heavily weighted that on acceptance you will not raise any future actions against them in relation to discrimination , whether indirect or direct, and any other associated claims, as this appears to be the main reason for the settlement. Please please please speak with the lawyer that you used to check over and sign the agreement and explain the situation, with evidence of this matter. Presenting as impersonation and misrepresenting you fraudulently and misuse and electronic transmission of your name within a company that you are not employed by.

Your agreement likely also covers you taking about the very existence of the agreement, so you are on very sticky ground even mentioning it publicly (i.e on here). It’s likely to have a very short list of people you can talk to about it (solicitor/DWP/HMRC/Dr). So I would seriously consider if you want to delete this thread. The advice given earlier which was to seek advice from the solicitor who dealt with your agreement is spot on because what they have done is appalling. Good luck.

Sorry ‘talking’ not taking.

Did your settlement include a gagging clause? No discussing the case with colleagues or anyone else, just take the money, get out and shut up?

If so, although this email was wrong, making a case of it might be more trouble than it's worth. Were you represented by a union, or by a legal professional with whom your communications would be seen as privileged? Even then, you could be opening a can of worms.

There is speculation about your departure (probably made worse by the email, in fact.)

I do wonder if it didn't happen quite as the person who contacted you described though. Have they been in touch again?

Wow! I’m very sure that’s illegal but I think you should seek legal advice as to how to handle

A settlement agreement generally includes an agreement as to how - if at all - the issue will be communicated. If it didn't then your lawyer was lax in my view. Ask advice from ACAS. Your former employer has acted in an outrageous way!

When I left a past role with a similar agreement, the wording of the business announcement about my departure was included as part of the contract. Neither party could deviate from "the story". Did you not have similar?