There is one thing that keeps managers from totally tearing apart former employees — fear of lawsuits. Alas, this all may change. If you’re interviewing for a new job and your prospective employer wants to contact your former employers they can and often do, even if you don’t list them as one of your references. Maybe you weren’t on great terms with the manager you worked for before you departed your old gig, or you screwed up on a big project, or the company bosses were all just plain wacko, and the last thing you want is a hiring manager considering you for a job calling one of these people. Well, often times these old managers just provide name, rank and serial number. They’re afraid to say anything beyond confirming the fact that you worked there; and often times they’ll just direct the person to human resources. These managers are trained to do this by their companies. Why? If they dog you to a hiring manager and you don’t get the job and you find out about it, you can go back and sue that person and the company for libel — basically, that they were bad-mouthing you unjustly. So, the fear of lawsuit seems to keep some old bosses from blathering. Turns out, in this tight labor market, companies are getting around this fear. Employers are having potential employees sign away their rights to sue their ex-bosses if they say something negative about you

Original Source of Promise not to sue ex-bosses dissing you