I got laid off before starting work.?
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I got laid off before starting work.?
I got a job offer as a part time teacher at a university. I had a written offer with the classes and starting date. Two weeks before the starting date I was checking at the university website, I found another name as a lecturer for the courses. I send them an email asking if there are any changes. They responded that they had to give the class to someone else already works there.
After I received the offer letter, I was asked to go to the university for a meeting, given the books, asked to prepare for the courses. I also registered my babies at a day care did not pay, lost time looking for other opportunities…
Is there a legal case here?
Thanks
Asked on January 2, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Michigan
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Unfortunately, unless you had an actual written employment contract for a set period of time (like a one-year contract) which guaranteed you employment, your employment was "employment at will." Under employment at will, an employee may be terminated at any time, for any reason, even before employment starts--an employee at will has essentially no rights in or to his or her job. In this event, without a contract, there is no case and no recourse.
If you did have such a contract, however, they must honor it: if they do not, you could sue them for breach of contract for the job or for compensation equal to (potentially) several months (possibly up to the length of the contract) salary.
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