Office of the Privacy Commissioner | Case note 287445 [2021] NZPrivCmr 4: Prospective employer disclosed job interview to current employer
A man resigned from his job and attended a job interview during his notice period. He specifically told the interview panel that he did not want them to contact his current employer. He subsequently learned that a woman from the interview panel had had a discussion with his manager shortly after the interview.
The man complained to us that there had been a disclosure of information in breach of principle 11 of the Privacy Act. Principle 11 provides that an agency that holds personal information shall not disclose the information unless the agency believes, on reasonable grounds, that one of the exceptions applies.
The company advised us that the woman from the interview panel had a close friendship with the complainant’s manager and that she had simply mentioned that she had met the complainant. The company did not offer the man a position but advised that the decision was made before the discussion with his manager, due to his experience being not as wide ranging as they required.
But the complainant’s manager recalled that the woman had told him that the man had interviewed for a position.
We found that the woman from the interview panel had provided the context for meeting the complainant i.e. that she had interviewed the man for a position. Therefore, we found that there had been a breach of principle 11.
For there to be an interference with privacy, there must be a breach of a principle and harm resulting from the breach. Harm can include ‘significant injury to feelings’.
The man advised that when he discovered that the woman had spoken with his manager about the job interview, he felt extremely worried, upset and anxious. He was concerned that his manager had given him a poor reference as he had been experiencing a difficult job situation.
We formed the opinion that the feelings experienced by the man met the threshold for harm. We were guided by the decision in Winter v Jans, where the Tribunal found that ‘injury to feelings’ can include anxiety and stress.
We facilitated a settlement of this complaint and closed the file.