Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodododa
It was addressed to someone in our organisation, he forwarded it to me. The letter is a PDF attachment with full letterhead, etc.
I sent it to the coach so that he could answer the charges. I know kids who were about to attend one of his camps. The coach has a rock solid case and will win damages from the club. I'm just worried that the club will take it out of my hide, as they've threatened.
I've tried to look up whether it's illegal to forward a letter, but the law seems to be ambiguous. It was not marked "confidential", but perhaps they can claim copyright over the letter.
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So it wasn't misdirected, but rather the intended recipient forwarded it to you. People forward email all the time - so no biggie there.
Not saying forwarding email from a legitimate recipient is always legally wise, because sometimes it's not. However, it's often far less serious than dealing with misdirected email, which is what I originally thought the issue was.
How is your organization associated with the coach?
If your organization interacts with the coach in some fashion, it would seem logical to bring up the matter with the coach, as you did, since it sounds like it deals with youth protection issues that, by state law and/or common industry practice, usually require immediate attention.
The coach is likely right to sue the club; stuff like this is why most employers will not reveal anything about current / past employees to others beyond saying the individual currently works there, or had worked there from such and such date.
In my view, it's likely the club is bluffing, so don't play into it ... just stay silent and be prepared to get an attorney involved if that matter continues to escalate.
With that said, irregardless of what the club does, your organization, if it's youth related (even if only a little) and the coach is currently (or in the recent past) involved with it, may need to get an attorney involved right away ...
How do you know for certain the coach's background check is clean?
Even if it is, just the question it's not could raise issues later if something is alleged to happen - they could claim your organization knew there was an issue, but didn't adequately address the matter, such as doing a follow-up background check and/or taking other actions, such as an in-depth youth protection policy review / additional staff training.
Ron