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.