Accepted Offer of Employment Withdrawn by Employer

[littlehorn969]

What is the name of your state? NY

Please help me. I am currently a foreign student who was offered employment by an engineering consulting firm in NYC. During the interview I have told them (two partners) EVERYTHING including my visa status; the fact the I have one year to work here legally and that afterwards I need to be sponsored for an H-1B. Two days later the partner called me up and offered me the position. I have signed the offer of employment letter and stated that I can start in July and gave it back to them. I have already declined two job interviews from other employers to comply with ethical hiring procedures. I have been constantly giving them updates on when I am going to receive my work permit (which is just in a few weeks from now) and have suggested if they would consider to sponsor me for an H-1B since the USCIS (INS) is accepting applications now. And then last Friday I have received a short letter from the partner saying my "...visa status is becoming too much of a complication. Due to commitments in place at this time XXX will not be able to sponsor you for H-1B status. Consequently, we must regretfully withdraw our offer of employment." Now I'm stuck with no job opportunities and my plans with school have been affected. Do I have a say this? Can they lawfully do this to me with the fact that they know about my visa status? Can I claim for Breach of Contract?

Thank you for your advice.

 

[Meursault]

Simple answer is because an offer for employment is not a contract there is no breech of contract.

 

[Beth3]

Agreed. Additionally, the employer was not obligated to wait around for your work permit to come through, nor to sponsor you for an H-1B visa. Even if you weren't waiting for work authorization, it wouldn't have been unlawful for the employer to change their minds about employing you.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Simple answer is because an offer for employment is not a contract there is no breech of contract.

My response:

I disagree.

A contract had, in fact, been entered into by the parties. Our writer said, "Two days later the partner called me up and offered me the position. I have signed the offer of employment letter and stated that I can start in July and gave it back to them."

That's a contract. The employer breached that contract.

Our writer has a good cause of action for a lawsuit, to include "Breach of Contract", "Detrimental Reliance", and "Damages".

IAAL

 

[Beth3]

While I hate to offer a dissenting opinion IAAL, offers of employment don't usually meet the criteria of a contact and if they were smart in composing it, the agreement also includes the usual "this does not constitute a guarantee of employment" disclaimer. The odds of the offer constituting a contract are low but the writer is free to show it to an attorney of course.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

While I hate to offer a dissenting opinion IAAL, offers of employment don't usually meet the criteria of a contact and if they were smart in composing it, the agreement also includes the usual "this does not constitute a guarantee of employment" disclaimer. The odds of the offer constituting a contract are low but the writer is free to show it to an attorney of course.

My response:

We don't know what, if anything, was written into the offer that was signed. Our writer never wrote the offer here for review.

So, in the absence of a "limitation" such as you wrote, my response stands.

IAAL