'I was flabbergasted': Interviewer calls candidates current employer without asking

The usual decorum for interviews is that of subtlety—and for good reason. The fact that you're looking for other work is one that you'd probably prefer your employer wasn't aware of. Their gut reaction could very well be to fire you and secure the future of their business and the security of their company. Now, jobless, the job you were applying for now has much higher bargaining power over you than they held previously. For this reason, it's usually an unspoken rule that an interviewer 

As an aside, you might hope that the job you're interviewing for wouldn't force you to call the CEO of your current company to let them know that you're considering leaving—under the guise that doing this will secure you the role… Only to turn around and ghost you for three weeks before reconsidering and announcing that they're giving the job to another candidate. But it very well could and—let me assure you—has happened to some of us before. 

This interviewer took this a step further, taking it upon themself to call the candidate's employer without asking them first. They only found out when their current employer pulled them aside to ask them about a phone call they had received.

If you're hiring, don't ever do this.

Read on to see their account of events that spawned this thread. Next, check out this job-seeker's passive-aggressive cover letter.