[MN] [HI] Privacy was Violated
TLDR: My employer fired me for something she did and i’m afraid she will trash me on my background check.
Hello, I need help from some people that work in HR.
I was recently hired at a children’s hospital and have to pass a background check. I have had great relationships and history at all my employers EXCEPT one of them. I worked in a small owner business where it was only me and the asthetics doctor who owned the business. There were a lot of inappropriate practices happening shortly after I was hired on (benefits that weren’t being followed through with, expired medical supplies being used, doctor was constantly on vacation and only in office a couple times a month, etc) so I started applying for some other jobs casually. I wasn’t in a rush, just wanted to see what was out there.
Here’s where the issue starts. One day when I was out sick, she was able to guess my gmail password and logged into my personal gmail account. During that time she went through a ton of my emails without permission, focusing primarily on the application updates and my credit card information. While I was out sick, she called me yelling at me and telling me that I was a terrible employee and how dare I apply for other jobs and not tell her. If I found another job I liked, I was planning on giving her notice but she essentially stalked me and found out without my permission. Later she tried to claim she “thought it was her email” but she doesn’t know how computers work and in the history it showed exactly which emails she double clicked on (since it opened a new window it shows up as its own URL) and she looked through about 15 that all were addressed to me and had my name at the top, so I know this was a lie.
As soon as I got back to work she fired me saying that my work was not up to her standards, but obviously it was because she was upset that I was looking for other jobs. This was an office management job and she was having me babysit her dog and do her laundry, that’s an issue in itself, but I was doing everything she asked me to do.
So back to the background check, they didn’t ask “may we contact this employer” and I am afraid if they contact her she will just say terrible things about me. She is a very petty woman and is very regularly rude to former employees, customers, and vendors. I am not sure what I should do. Should I tell my employer and give them a heads up? Or should I wait to see the results of the background check. I am currently a federal employee and was able to pass their background check but I am worried that this 3rd party company will have a different process