WWYD - Concern over a potential Catholic teacher and morality...

[FayeW]

That to me is the issue, the fact that they are not going to abide by their contract. That would be an issue to me regardless of what the contract was. If I were recommending somebody for the job, I would be vouching that they would honor the commitment they have made. If I know they do not have the intention of doing so than I cannot in good conscience recommend them.

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Unless you are the Amazing Kreskin, you cannot possibly know what someone else will or will not do in the future.

A reference is a reference, not a guarantee.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Unless you are the Amazing Kreskin, you cannot possibly know what someone else will or will not do in the future.

A reference is a reference, not a guarantee.

But you can know what a person is likely to do, especially based on their comments. If said person had made comments like, "I don't like the clause but I will abide by it" or "I guess I'd better change my behavior" or had done something to make me believe they would take it seriously than I would have no problem recommending them. This person by the sounds of it has not done that. They are openly bragging about the only reason they joined the church wsa to get the recommendation. Most people are fairly consistent in their behavior. If I have a reason to believe they will not abide by the contract under which they were hired it would be unethical for me to recommend them. In this case, a reasonable conclusion of their behavior is that they are not going to follow the contract.

There are also legal issues involved. The law disagrees with you and people have been successfully sued for providing references for somebody who violated their contract/engaged in illegal activities. That is why Disney will not allow managers to give recommendations to Cast Members, no matter how good they are.

 

[smartestnumber5]

I find it very unlikely that they would ask you anything about the morality clause. So I would just give the reference as to her actual job performance, same as you would for a public school.

If it were me and they happened to ask about her "morality" I'd tell them the truth--that is none of my business and frankly it is completely unprofessional that they would ask someone offering a *job* reference to evaluate a person's "moral" fiber or share details of a person's personal life. (In fact asking such questions strikes me as completely unethical.) If they need the answers to such questions then there is only one person to ask--the candidate herself.

I would absolutely not lie or misrepresent the situation. I would simply decline to answer any questions I found were unprofessional in the context of providing a job reference.

If you feel strongly that this person should not be applying for the job because of her personal life whether out of her own self-interest or out of concern that she isn't intending to live up to the contract, you could always talk to her as a friend and give her some friendly advice.