Ex-manager sues Best Buy over e-mail

"If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all," a cartoon character once said.

He might have added: Especially in an e-mail.

Stung by a scathing job reference, a South Jersey man filed a federal lawsuit last week, claiming that Best Buy, his former employer, blackballed him.

Michael Oliveri, 47, said it was impossible to find a new job after he was fired in August 2006 from Best Buy, the electronics megamart.

In his suit, Oliveri said he became suspicious after job offers at Circuit City and Target were abruptly terminated.

So Oliveri, of Columbus, Burlington County, hatched a plan.

He created an e-mail account using the name of a Target employee. Then Oliveri sent a note to his former company asking for a "candidate reference."

According to Oliveri's lawsuit, the district human resources manager, Ann McCafferty, allegedly responded:

"I will give you the skinny on him but you can't say you got any info from Best Buy or we can be sued. Just don't hire him and say you went with a better candidate.

"He was hired as GM and demoted after 12 months or so because he sucked. He is desperate for a job because supposedly his wife left him because he has no job. I would not touch him.

"Again, do not forward this e-mail to anybody or say where you heard the info from because we were not allowed to give this info out, but I would hate you to get stuck with this guy!"

Needless to say, Oliveri did not get the job.

New Jersey law prohibits interference with a prospective employment relationship. Oliveri is seeking a minimum of $100,000 in damages, said his lawyer, Katherine D. Hartman of Moorestown.

McCafferty was subsequently promoted and now works at Best Buy corporate headquarters in Minnesota.

The company's legal team is reviewing the case, a spokeswoman said.

"There's not a lot we can say other than we're investigating it," said company spokeswoman Dawn Bryant.

Oliveri was hired in 2004 as general manager of the Best Buy's Wilmington store and later worked at the Plymouth Meeting branch.

The suit was filed Jan. 22 in U.S. District Court in Camden.