This gets right to the heart of the issue, IMHO. Hiring has become such a litigation-prone process that companies are now incentivized to leak as little information as possible.
It's sad because nobody wins -- companies get sued for petty nothings, candidates who have been wronged have no recourse, and candidates aren't given the feedback they need to improve themselves.
Our startup isn't hiring yet, but I must confess this kind of thing has me worried...
Where? I've never seen anyone sue a company for not hiring them, and no company I've ever worked at has been sued for not hiring someone. If it was litigation-prone, I'd expect to see some litigation. I don't work in the US; maybe this is a weird US thing? Maybe people who do work in the US can give us some numbers? What proportion of companies one has worked for have been sued for not hiring someone? Or in a given year, what proportion of rejected interview candidates come back to sue the company?
It is a weird US thing, and nobody can give you numbers because the existence and outcome of these lawsuits is never talked about (most are settled out of court).
But talk to anyone in HR and you'll hear, "The stories that I've seen, if only I could tell you!"
It's sad because nobody wins -- companies get sued for petty nothings, candidates who have been wronged have no recourse, and candidates aren't given the feedback they need to improve themselves.
Our startup isn't hiring yet, but I must confess this kind of thing has me worried...