States With Pro-Employee Laws: No Solicitation Of Employees Through Misrepresentation

I've written before about the possibility of suing an employer for fraud if they misrepresented the job. If you are lured into a job, specifically if you give up another job or move to accept the job, and the employer had no intention of keeping the promises they made, you may have a claim against them for fraud. However, any such claims have to be made under common law in most states. You may or may not succeed, depending on your state law and the facts of your case.

However, one state, California, thought it was so important to protect its citizens from this kind of employer misbehavior that they passed a law making it illegal for employers to solicit employees through misrepresentation.

The California Labor Code provides:

970. No person, or agent or officer thereof, directly or indirectly, shall influence, persuade, or engage any person to change from one place to another in this State or from any place outside to any place within the State, or from any place within the State to any place outside, for the purpose of working in any branch of labor, through or by means of knowingly false representations, whether spoken, written, or advertised in printed form, concerning either: (a) The kind, character, or existence of such work; (b) The length of time such work will last, or the compensation therefor; (c) The sanitary or housing conditions relating to or surrounding the work; (d) The existence or nonexistence of any strike, lockout, or other labor dispute affecting it and pending between the proposed employer and the persons then or last engaged in the performance of the labor for which the employee is sought. 

 971. Any person, or agent or officer thereof, who violates Section 970 is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment for not more than six months or both. 

 972. In addition to such criminal penalty, any person, or agent or officer thereof who violates any provision of Section 970 is liable to the party aggrieved, in a civil action, for double damages resulting from such misrepresentations. Such civil action may be brought by an aggrieved person or his assigns or successors in interest, without first establishing any criminal liability.

I haven't found any other state that offers its working taxpayers this kind of legal protection. Why not? Maybe some legislators in other states can explain to me why they think it's okay to make someone leave their job by saying the position is a long-term one, but they're  really only looking to cover for someone out on maternity leave. Or they just want to lure a competitor's top salesperson over to get all their contacts, then dump them. Or they say the job is for a manager's position, but it turns out the job is for a much lower paid clerk's position. I've seen each of these situations play out in real life, so don't tell me it doesn't happen.

Maybe there ought to be a law in your state. Anyone listening in Florida?