Blacklisting and coercion of employees
Wis. Stat. § 134.02
in effect(1) Any 2 or more persons, whether members of a partnership or company or stockholders in a corporation, who are employers of labor and who shall combine or agree to combine for any of the following purposes shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500, which fine shall be paid into the state treasury for the benefit of the school fund:
(a) Preventing any person seeking employment from obtaining employment.
(b) Procuring or causing the discharge of any employee by threats, promises, circulating blacklists or causing blacklists to be circulated.
(c) After having discharged any employee, preventing or attempting to prevent the employee from obtaining employment with any other person, partnership, company or corporation by the means described in par. (a) or (b).
(d) Authorizing, permitting or allowing any of their agents to blacklist any discharged employee or any employee who has voluntarily left the service of his or her employer.
(e) Circulating a blacklist of an employee who has voluntarily left the service of an employer to prevent the employee’s obtaining employment under any other employer.
(f) Coercing or compelling any person to enter into an agreement not to unite with or become a member of any labor organization as a condition of his or her securing employment or continuing therein.
(2)
(a) Nothing in this section shall prohibit any employer from giving any other employer, to whom a discharged employee has applied for employment, or to any bondsman or surety, a truthful statement of the reasons for the employee’s discharge, when requested to do so by any of the following:
1. The discharged employee.
2. The person to whom the discharged employee has applied for employment.
3. Any bondsman or surety.
(b) It shall be a violation of this section to give a statement of the reasons for the employee’s discharge with the intent to blacklist, hinder or prevent the discharged employee from obtaining employment.
(c) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit any employer from keeping for the employer’s own information and protection a record showing the habits, character and competency of the employer’s employees and the cause of the discharge or voluntary quitting of any of them.
Source: WI Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/134.02Fetched: 10/7/2026