Sorry about your bandsaw incident, I have made many expensive mistakes in my various careers, that were embarrassing and avoidable, like getting a 10,000.00 bearing stuck on a propeller shaft that had to be cut off and scrapped and almost caused a delay in the production schedule, and destroying a custom made gear assembly that took 6 weeks to manufacture. Nobody was hurt, but the embarrassment lives on.
As far as references go, I work as a subcontractor for the local power company. Before I could be considered for the contract, I had to pay for a background investigation on myself as well as drug screening. I had worked briefly for two EC's here, and they were contacted about my employment history, one was neutral and the other must have held a grudge because they did not give me a very good reference. It did not affect my contract, but it could very well have made a difference in another situation. I would document the actions of your former employer, and take some action to at least show the reasons for your leaving and to counter any adverse actions they may take against you in the future.
