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Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

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Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#21
post #18
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think a lawyer will impact the water cooler.

and it will cost you a ton. I love when people immediately jump to "lawyer up" like that's just nothing.

lawyers cost money too. companies don't want to use their law resources for something like this. sometimes a letter on a law firms letterhead with harsh words is enough to at least get the company to take action. this probably won't cost you more than $1k, which if you believe your career is at stake is far less than future income.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#22
post #18
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think a lawyer will impact the water cooler.

and it will cost you a ton. I love when people immediately jump to "lawyer up" like that's just nothing.

Not necessarily a ton and he did write "currently have meetings with attorneys on how to protect myself." If it is really just hearing through the grapevine that there's some water cooler gossip, probably not a lot to be done in any case. On the other hand, a "knock it off" sort of letter probably wouldn't hurt and it provides a paper trail if anything comes of this in the future and/or the company has made some sort of formal accusation, e.g. via email, internally.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#23
See if you can get your friends to put their statements in an email or text message. After that, consult a lawyer with the evidence and perhaps sue for slander. I wouldn't take this lightly. This could damage your changes of getting a job in the future if a potential employer calls them.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#24
Announcing that they're so incompetent that they failed to revoke a former employee's credentials is pretty dense.

Talking to lawyers is the right thing to do. You don't want this gossip to become a legal issue for you. Collect detailed notes on when and where you turned in hardware, when / what credentials you had revoked, and to whom you delivered these things and informed about them. Just because you didn't perpetrate the hack doesn't mean that someone else wasn't using your hardware for something nefarious. I normally insist that a work laptop be wiped (obviously with all relevant work product handed off first) before i turn it in.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#25
post #14
post #5

Looks like the kind of employer you might not want to use for references anyway, but I'd gather as much evidence of that gossip as possible, talk to a lawyer and have him/her reach the company to cease propagating these gossip, which could as well be considered defamation. If they believe they're been wronged and something wrong actually happened, then they should bring those facts with proofs to back them up.

I don’t think a lawyer will impact the water cooler.

Obviously not, but charges associated with 'hacking' could lead to jail time. Rumors have a way of becoming problems when the wrong people get wind of them. Lawyering up is the smart thing to do (at very least a consultation).

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#26
post #18
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think a lawyer will impact the water cooler.

and it will cost you a ton. I love when people immediately jump to "lawyer up" like that's just nothing.

Most law firms here in NL will not charge for a 'potential intake' of about 30 minutes.

Good lawyers explain your options, risks and costs.

I have never been burnt, and I have spent very little money this way.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#27
I have been in the same situation a few times, even at the company I still work at.

The truth is, it's in no one's best interest to drag this out. They'll do an investigation and only if they have solid evidence will anything come of it. In my case, I did nothing wrong and there was no evidence. Someone accused me of something I didn't do or coincidence(s) led to me being investigated (common in the area I work, actually).

Nothing came of it, because nothing happened on my end. However, it was a nerve-racking experience. Especially, because you never know if something is an accident or mistakenly evaluated.

In a case I'll share, we used a ruby on rails scaffold to create a web app. Unfortunately, it had a mailer in there and looked like we could send emails out. It wasn't active and all generic code "hello world", but you can see how people freaked out. Luckily, those investigating dug into the code and evaluated it, realizing nothing was connected.

In any case, if you did nothing, I'd put your odds at 99.9% chance nothing happens. In the 0.1% chance the company does something, they'll have the burden of proof and their customers will find out. Accusations do not prove guilt. The company would likely be more harmfully impacted than you will and you'll be able to provide a defense to the public record.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#28
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming this is in the US, it's exceedingly unlikely the company would risk putting a negative reference in writing. OP is unlikely to get more than a confirmation of dates worked though.

Many companies will share "eligible for rehire" status.

Is that legal in the US? And what is the sharing mechanism? Word of mouth?

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#29
post #28
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many companies will share "eligible for rehire" status.

Is that legal in the US? And what is the sharing mechanism? Word of mouth?

Varies by state, but legal in most places. Big companies have automated reference checking. Via truework or theworknumber, or similar. Which can also verify salary...urgh.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/employee-...

Re: Ask HN: Ex-Employer gossiping I “hacked” their platform – what to do?

#30
A similar situation happened to me several years ago. My former employer claimed I was involved in a data breach a year after I quit. The FBI raided my home and questioned me for hours about what I knew. I was not involved and had no knowledge of any incident.

I would strongly urge you to retain counsel with a criminal defense attorney and seek to squash this as soon as possible.

When a company claims that someone, especially a former employee, is involved in criminal activity, they will point guns at you and ask questions later. In the eyes of law enforcement, you are presumed guilty.

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