Q. I recently left a position with a company, and after I left my employer lied to other employees about the circumstances of my departure. Their story: I left to find a job with a better fit after completing the last major project for the year. The actual story: We reached a mutual decision that I would no longer work there. They essentially told me to resign or I would be fired. Now I am getting e-mails and phone calls from former co-workers who are slightly angry that I didn't tell them I was leaving. I was forced to surrender my Blackberry immediately and was not given the option of letting co-workers know that I was leaving. The rate of turnover at this company has reached in excess of 50 percent in the past two years: In an office of 20, 11 people have left. I think they are secretly firing people and then saying they are leaving on their own. Should I warn my former coworkers? A. When more than half of the employees in an office of 20 leave within two years, the effect on the morale of those who remain is devastating. Your former employer has apparently decided that this impact will be lessened if the departures appear to be voluntary, but I think that's misguided. If the remaining employees think that all of these people are leaving of their own volition, they will start to wonder why, and they will inevitably settle upon the most nefarious of imaginable reasons. If, on the other hand, your former employer is honest about the business reasons why a staff reduction is necessary and transparent about future plans, that could strengthen the loyalty of the employees who remain and make significant strides toward rebuilding their operations Let's assume for the moment that your former employer really is systematically firing workers in secret. By letting people know, you would clear up the mystery of your abrupt departure while at the same time helping your friends make better informed decisions about their careers. And, let's face it, you will also derive some satisfaction from potentially thwarting the plans of the managers who wronged you. But you run a real risk that what you say will get back to your former managers, in which case you can forget about obtaining any sort of helpful employment reference. If you already have another job, maybe you don't need their help. If you are still looking, I would think twice about burning that bridge. Now let's suppose that your theory regarding the mass exodus from your former workplace is incorrect. Maybe it is pure coincidence that this many people have recently left. Maybe your employer fired you based upon legitimate concerns about your performance. Maybe their false assertion that you left voluntarily was not part of the cover-up for a staff reduction, but just a way of showing you respect. Would it then be fair for you to unsettle your former co-workers by suggesting to them that their jobs could be at risk? Before you openly speculate about the larger context of your dismissal, you should make sure that your story is unassailable. In the end, you might decide that it is best just to let your former colleagues know that you were fired without notice and that this is the reason why you were unable to leave on your own terms. They have surely taken note of the fact that you are only one of many people to have departed the organization in recent memory, and they can draw their own conclusions about what this means for them. HRadvice@washingtonpost.com 