I work for an oil and gas super major (household name) selling petrochemicals. About 4 months ago, a coworker and I both began talking to a recruiter about two openings with the largest distributor in our industry who is Both a customer and competitor of current employer.

My coworker accepted a job while I was still negotiating an offer. Three days later I got a call stating they can no longer speak with me. I have since learned, from 3 separate sources, that my current VP called the CEO of the prospective new employer and complained about them taking my coworker and stated that if they poached me (used my name), we would cut off supply to them (as a distributor, this would be business critical). I have now been totally blacklisted, by name, from an 8 billion dollar company who is integral in our industry.

I don’t have a non compete or an NDA. This potential job was for roughly 50,000 more per year than my current role. Is this legal? Do I have any legal recourse? I have written proof that this exchange took place.