Can I request to see a reference about me? From USA universities, Can I request to see a reference about me?
Do they offer the Right to Information and request the information provided in a referee report about me to release?
I can have this service from the UK.
I ask this because my current PI congratulate me on an interview for a postdoc position, next time he followed up and asked how did it go. Later I found he sent a negative referee report about me and not to hire me. (long story  short, they were my PI's colleagues - so, through the Right to Information I got told to request HR to have a copy of all the referee reports)
Still PI doesn't know if I know about his backstabbing, however, I want to make sure this from another place in the USA to confirmed if that was a personal attack or if it was due to I applied to his colleague's group.
If this is genuine backstabbing, what actions I can take through universities / academic level, without going to courts.
I had/have to put this PI as a referee for someplace where they know which lab I am coming from.
PI is famous in the university for this kind of games he plays, however, he has top political power as he has billions of grants, and staff/students afraid to talk in public.
Edit:
To answer few of your Qs /comments:
To @Jon Custer : &quot;how do you know the report was &quot;negative&quot; vs &quot;not positive enough given the other applicants&quot;?&quot;
I am specialized in using a few lab techniques. PI has written in the report, I do not! (Funny enough PI is the one who doesn't know these two techniques - I got trained by a postdoc and a tech at different institutes and attended a workshop).
However, the rest of the world believes PI is an expert in this very field and specialized in this specific technique, as he published dozens of articles. The Truth is, He does not know the technique, all come from a technician and a postdoc (both postdoc and tech left the lab, I have a referral from the tech, that I got trained from the tech)
To: user151413; &quot;Reference letters are an assessment, which can be negative. (Otherwise, what's the point of an assessment?) &quot;
This would be true if it was an honest assessment. The problem here is deliberate lying, and giving false information in the assessment.
As a general rule, institutions are very reluctant to give access to letters of reference to anyone and candidates in particular. That's because they know that if they regularly shared these letters with the people being written about, letter writers would stop giving honest assessments.
As a consequence, regardless of matters of law or regulation, you should expect that universities will not give you the letter. You may have a legal way to obtain such a letter, but you will likely have to sue the university to obtain it. Whether that's worth your time or money is a case you need to evaluate for yourself -- taking into account that knowing what is in the letter does not actually change anything. It's not like the university will offer you the position you were seeking just because you know what was in the letter.