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It's a long story, but we think it's a lie. Basically, my husband is making a claim about his previous employer, so we think they must have said something on the reference or maybe over the phone!
As if in 3 weeks, they would decide they couldn't afford to take someone on anymore. We're gutted, don't know what we'll do but he needed to leave his job anyway (again, long story) but they were planning to get rid of him. Stressed isn't the word at the moment.