[sjg007]

Your friend probably has a claim against the company for breach of contract. When people leave a job to join a new one and incur expenses and then the new company lays them off or fires them for no fault then the judges usually side with the employee.

[jacquesm]

Indeed, and then he finds that not only is there breach of contract but that the company is also quite vindictive and will use any kind of claim as a reason to not even consider hiring you in the future, assuming that it stays within the one company and doesn't get passed around between recruiters.

[iooi]

Every background check that companies put you through include any history of litigation against employers, no need for recruiters to talk to each other.

[mschuster91]

I can understand at least the reasoning behind checking criminal history of potential hirings (even though as an European, I disagree with the concept on a fundamental level and it's illegal in Germany to demand a criminal record check outside of very specific industries).

But how on earth do civil lawsuit records in the US end up anywhere where the background-checking industry can get their grubby paws on them?!

[jrochkind1]

The simple answer to "how do civil lawsuit records end up where they can get their hands on them" is that civil lawsuit records are of course public, and available to anyone who wants them. Although I haven't specifically heard of this one before.

Are civil suit records not public not in Germany?

But hearing that a criminal history check is illegal in Germany outside of specific industries continues to reinforce my belief that everything just works right in Germany.

How do I get residency?

[mschuster91]

> Are civil suit records not public not in Germany?

Usually, the verdict of popular lawsuits is published but with all PII redacted to a reasonable degree, and you can request a redacted copy of a verdict if it hasn't been published [1].

Additionally, 99.9% of all court proceedings can be visited and listened to by anyone, the exception being matters involving minors, national security and especially if psychological examinations of the accused or participants or details of sexual and domestic violence are being discussed, highly private details of someone's life - that is usually done only for the relevant period of a proceeding.

To me, that's a fair balance between the interest of the general public and the rights of the people subjected to the court - especially that to the right to live a normal life once one has served their sentence.

[1] https://www.lto.de/recht/hintergruende/h/bgh-hzivilgerichte-...

[sveme]

I would not know how to access such records. Doubt they are publicly available. Germany isn‘t perfect, but if you want to come, the blue card process is pretty straightforward. If you do python backend stuff, talk to me.

[jrochkind1]

Alas, no, ruby. Does the "blue card process" require a job offer? Looks like yes, good to know that if you have that, it can be done. https://www.germany-visa.org/immigration-residence-permit/eu...

I wonder where I'd find software job postings in Germany (or possibly other EU) that are suitable for blue card (looks like salary must be sufficient, possibly other requirements).

It is increasingly apparent to me that the USA is a fully broken society, and a dangerous place to live.

[sjg007]

They are not in a standard background check. They might show up in a Google search though.

[sillysaurusx]

Have you seen this happen in practice?

[RangerScience]

Signing for my current job, I learned that there's a legal concept for "quitting with reason", which is essentially the inverse of "firing for cause". Among a few other things, if it procs (which is excessively unlikely), my stock grant is accelerated.

The concept amounts to "a material change in working conditions", and covers pay, work load and type, work location, and location in the hierarchy (aka demotions, even if the company doesn't call it one).

(It's also why I made sure my paperwork specified "remote" rather than "LA")

[mason55]

"Promissory estoppel" is the term here as it's unlikely there was any actual breach of contract.

[sjg007]

Yes, this is what I was thinking of.

[throwawayboise]

If there was in fact a contract. Most employment is at-will.