I approached an area high school in June about coming on as an assistant coach to one of their extra-curricular activities.  I had previously volunteered in a similar role with a different school for the previous 5 years and, after the coach quit (the activity and his job) under less-than-reputable circumstances, I decided to seek a paid position at a different school.  The new school was completely on board, couldn't have been more excited, when can I start, etc. etc. They got approval to create the position, we agreed on a salary, background check was passed, and I was all set to be voted on by the Board of Education...until my name suddenly got pulled from the agenda and my emails stopped getting replied to.

I submitted a Public Records request and the only written record I got was an email from the coach to HR saying she received some "concerning information" (direct quote) about me at a state-wide coach's meeting and requested a meeting with HR.  About a week later I received notice they were terminating the hiring process.  No one is disclosing what was said about me or who said it.  Considering it's a school, I have an idea as to what was said about me and it's something I'll vehemently deny.  My record is squeaky clean and I always made sure steps were taken to protect myself (i.e. never let myself be alone with one of the students, doors were always open, etc.).  I will say that the girlfriend of my original school's coach has a known beef with me, thinks I had something to do with her boyfriend quitting (I didn't), and verbally threatened me.  I have every reason to believe she's intentionally torpedoing me.

So I'm sitting here wondering if I have a defamation/illegal reference check suit in front of me, but I can't know for sure unless I know who said what, and no "record" has been found and no one's voluntarily coming speaking up.

I know Arf is no substitute for paid, official legal advice, but if I can at least be pointed in the right direction...

Thanks in advance.

sure, here is the right direction;  consult a employment attorney. that is THE BEST free advice you will ever get on this thread. everything else on this thread will be shit house lawyer BS. good luck

I know someone in a similar situation.

He had a PI make reference calls to find out who was saying what.

Phone call was recorded, lawsuit filed, offender denied wrongdoing, phone call tape played, settled out of court for tidy sum.

Worked for a larger company.

Officially referred them to personnel department.

Called them from my home phone and said "He does not suffer fools gladly."

Immediately called friend.

He was not displeased.

They made him an offer.
He declined.

Lawyer

It's my understanding they have to provide you with a copy of the "damning" information from your BC, especially if they terminated a hiring process over it. You do have to ask.

BC is clear.  The coach was approached privately and given accusations about my character (since my BC is clean).

Edit: Which is sort of the whole crux of my post.  They were approached outside the standard hiring practice, they never addressed their concerns with me, and they won't tell me what the "information" about me is.  It sounds very shady (not to mention possibly defamatory) especially for a public school system.

What is an "illegal reference  check"?

Slander, for example.  Also, in Ohio, I know that employers are generally protected from what they say in a reference check unless they knowingly say something that is false, misleading, or discriminatory.

Edit: To me, it's trickier cause I was never employed by the first school, so I don't know if a reference from the previous coach would enjoy those protections.  I also don't know what recourse there is for a random 3rd party to make a "reference" about me.  I'd like to believe that you can't just approach someone's potential employer, say a couple lies about him, and it be legally kosher.

That is not an illegal reference check.  That phrase indicates that there was something illegal about checking he reference.

Please forgive my poor phrasing.