Slander and Defamation in the Past

[Rebel Anarchist]

My question involves defamation in the state of: New York

I am almost certain there was some slandering and defamatory comments/communication made about me while I worked at a large investment bank back in 2004. Previous to that I worked at another investment bank i 2002 and got in trouble for behavioral issues with this employer. Many employees there knew about it there. Once I moved to the new investment bank in 2004, it was apparent that they knew about my previous problems from 2002. It seemed much more aggrandized however at the new investment bank in 2004, and people took it much more seriously than they did at my previous employer. I had asked people what was being said about me and if they heard anything about me. I was not working with anyone directly that I knew from my previous employer. I am certain that there were comments made which made me suffer much personal and professional harm to my reputation. I can understand people being weary of me but I am also afraid the truth was distorted and made much worse than it actually was. Is there any way to ascertain what exactly it was that was said about me in 2004? Would hiring a private investigator be worthwhile? What can I do? What should I do? The situation is still painful to me and I want to know very much what was being said about me. Is there anything I can do about this?

[Dogmatique]

Even if you had a cause of action, the statute of limitations for defamation/slander in the state of NY has long since expired.

Surely your hard work and contributions during the past 8 years have helped you, though?

[Rebel Anarchist]

Honestly I think it has hurt me mostly personally. Professionally it pretty much alienated and threw me out of a lot of places. I don't even know however what was said about me. But you are right. The statute of limitations has surely expired. But I still want to know what was going on. It's a little bit tortuous not to know. I work at a law firm but a lot of the investment banks and what not don't seem to want to hire me or talk to me at all.

[Dogmatique]

I'm going to defer to the employment law experts to answer the question (which might be what you're asking) of whether or not you have a right to access your files and if yes, if there's a specific length of time that the employer has to have those files available.

It's sort of late/early though, so please be patient

[cbg]

In NY, it is entirely up to the employer whether or not to allow you to access your personnel file. However, even in the states where access is guaranteed by law, many if not most of them specifically exclude references; at least one state I can think of REQUIRES the employer to exclude references from the file before allowing the employee access. Additionally, many of the states where access is guaranteed by law puts a time limit on how long after termination (regardless of whether it is voluntary or involuntary) and in most of those states, 8 years exceeds it.

[Rebel Anarchist]

Just out of curiosity, if I attempted to get my employee records (personnel files), what is the likelihood that I would be successful in the state of New York? How much would this cost me to have an attorney do this? Any tips anyone can provide as to be more successful in obtaining them? Thanks in advance for any responses.

[cbg]

There is no way to guess whether your employer would permit it or not. Under NY law, short of a subpoena he cannot be compelled to release them. There is no guarantee that an attorney would have any greater success in obtaining them if the employer said no. Please note once more that EVEN IF your employer agreed to provide a copy of your personnel file, you would NOT be granted access to any reference information.

Additionally, the chance that your personnel file still contains information about references that were given out in 2004 is miniscule at best.