You've landed your dream job and you're already thinking about the higher quality of life you can have with the extra money. You gleefully hand in your resignation at your current workplace, sign the paperwork, only to then find out that your new employer has rescinded the job offer.
That's exactly what happened to Reddit user albanska recently, prompting outrage on the social media platform in a post with over 78,000 likes.
In the post, the unfortunate non-employee explains that they went through two interviews for the role, and was ecstatic when they received an offer 30 minutes after the second interview, as the new job paid 40 percent more than their current role.
Newsweek reached out to albanksa via Reddit for more information on the situation on Wednesday.
"I completed the onboarding HR sent me and signed everything last week," they wrote, "Two days ago, which would make a week exactly since I signed the offer letter, I get an email saying they would not be able to move forward with my offer due to 'internal changes they had to remove the open position, but will keep my resume on file.'"
After "begging" their current boss to keep them on, they were told "HR could not nothing about it," and they are now left without a "stable job." The disgruntled OP then left an online review of the new company explaining the situation they had been left in; the company in question then asked them to take it down, "as it hurts their reputation."
In an update the OP describes themselves as "scared since I've never been in a situation like this before," and that although they have contacted employment lawyers in the New York City area, "A good handful of them told me I did not have a case, despite the evidence I gave them."
Newsweek spoke to labor and employment attorney Michael Elkins, Esp., founder and partner at Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based MLE Law about the unhappy employee.
"Assuming the candidate was an employee at will, the employer was well within its rights to rescind the job offer," Elkins told Newsweek, "As long as the employer did not rescind the offer because the candidate is a member of a protected class (age, race, gender, disability, etc.) or in retaliation for the candidate engaging in legally recognized protected activity then there is no issue."
This case highlights the precarious position most employees in America are in, especially if we assume that the OP was hired by both companies in an "at-will" position, a type of employment that is prevalent in all U.S. states except for Montana.
"At-will means that an employer can terminate an employee at any time for any reason, except an illegal one, or for no reason without incurring legal liability," defined the National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL), "Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences."
"At-will" employment also means that an employer can change the terms of employment with no notice or consequence, including changes to pay or benefits, or reducing paid time off. "In its unadulterated form, the U.S. at-will rule leaves employees vulnerable to arbitrary and sudden dismissal, a limited or on-call work schedule depending on the employer's needs, and unannounced cuts in pay and benefits," said the NCSL.
In some cases, a case such as this might be eligible for what's known as promissory estoppel, a doctrine that says parties may be liable for broken promises that result in financial harm.
However, Elkins says, "There is no claim for promissory estoppel because there is no promise. The employment at will doctrine states that an employer can fire an employee at will at any time and for any reason or no reason, so long as the reason is not violative of any anti-discrimination and retaliation laws."
Elkins also stated that there is no obligation on the prior employer to take the candidate back, and while the new employer is within their right to ask that the online review is taken down, "the employee is free to refuse."
"Switching jobs is risky," he concluded. "The only way to have true security is to have an enforceable contract for employment. That said, most employees are employees at will. Practically, the law is stacked against an employee at will. The best bet is to closely examine the company's culture and make sure the role is stable, such that the employer is going to pull the rug out from under the employee at the last moment."
Users on Reddit were in support of the OP.
"The review accurately reflects their practices. It's their practices that hurt their reputation," commented one user, "Absolutely horrendous and it's scenarios like this where pay for a certain period should be mandated," wrote another.
"Leave it up, they deserve to have their company look bad. What they did to you was terrible," said another user. Many others backed this position and urged albanska not to take down the review.
Newsweek's "What Should I Do?" offers expert advice to readers. If you have a personal dilemma, let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice on relationships, family, friends, money and work and your story could be featured on WSID at Newsweek.
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