this post was submitted on 16 May 2025
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Work Reform

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

That was the very first thing I thought of. For the unaware, promissory estoppel is when party A is damaged by party B promising something, then later rescinding it. It is something you can file a lawsuit over.

For instance, maybe someone says “I’ll buy you a brand new Maserati if you drive your current car off a bridge.” You know they can afford the car, and a reasonable person would believe this promise. So you shake on it, and proceed to dump your car over the side of the bridge. Then that person laughs and goes “yeah, I changed my mind. I’m not buying you a Maserati.” Now you have been damaged because of an action you took due to their promise. You can sue them, to force them to fulfill their side of the promise, or at least to make you whole again.

In the screenshot’s case, it sounds like he made some major financial investments in this job. He moved to a new location, turned down other job offers, etc… He could sue PayPal to force them to repay the costs that he incurred as a result of their rescinded job offer.

The only reason employers still do shit like this is because individuals either don’t realize that they can sue for it, or don’t realize that lawyers will take their case.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

The only reason employers still do shit like this is because individuals either don’t realize that they can sue for it, or don’t realize that lawyers will take their case.

Is this one of those instances where the corporation can/will do stuff like deploy their lawyer army to tie up the victim and wait them out with expensive and time-wasting legal process...before offering them a $50 gift card to shut up and hold the company eternally blameless forevermore?