What You Need to Know About The Legal Consequences of False Promises
Employers may feel betrayed and misled when their employers back out of guaranteed arrangements. Here’s everything you need to know about suing an employer for making false promises.
You may sue your employer for false promises. Misleading statements can land an employer in court for negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent inducement, or other legal issues.
What Are Considered False Promises?
False promises from an employer or recruiter are statements the company and staff cannot follow through with. To the employee or prospective employee, these statements can sound like a “done deal.”
They might tell you:
- “Don’t take a different job. We are going to promote you soon.”
- “If you work extra shifts you will get the next promotion.”
- “If you take this job you will easily make six figures.”
- “You can expand your territory and make more sales if you join my team.”
- “If you work for me, I will let you take on all the big projects.”
- “Take this contractor role, and it will be full-time within a year.”
- “You’ll get two big bonuses a year.”
If you take the job or stay in your current position and nothing changes, your employer probably made a false promise. Whether intentional or unintentional, if your employer promised you more money than you did not receive, you might claim damages.
Related: Can I Sue My Employer For Lying?
Damages are the money you lost by acting on the promise, such as taking a new job or staying in your current position. If an employer claims you’ll make $100,000 more by switching jobs, but they limit your sales territory in the new role, you could sue for the money you lost.
A jury might also award damages for the stress of moving jobs and going to court to fight for the money and job security you expected to have.
What Is At-Will Employment?
Being an at-will employee means you do not have specific guidelines for when your job can end in your employment contract. All states except for Montana presume employees are at will. At-will employment allows your employer to fire you or change the job role, working conditions, or terms of employment at almost any time.
You cannot sue them for firing you “at will” unless other illegal circumstances, such as discrimination, are at play. You must choose to continue working in the new conditions or leave.
Recruiters and managers may make jobs sound better than they are to attract top talent. Remember you have rights, and nothing gives an employer the right to:
- Commit wrongful termination
- Breach a contract such as your employment agreement
- Share confidential information
- Pay you less than you agreed or not pay you enough under the law
- Provide unsafe working conditions
- Take away vacation time or benefits that are in your contract
No matter what the details are, an employer can form a valid contract with you if there is:
- An offer that guarantees performance (such as getting a full-time role)
- Offer acceptance from the employee
- Consideration from both parties (both parties assume the promise will happen)
If your employer did not meet their guaranteed performance, they have breached the contract. Contracts can be written or verbal, and a judge will take a contract claim seriously.
Related: Can an Employer Sue an Employee For Quitting?
How Can One Take Their Claims to Court?
You can make a legal claim for “fraudulent inducement of employment” if the employer has defrauded you to stay at a job or take a new job or position. You have a claim as long as the change is based on the employer’s false statements.
You will need to prove:
- The employer’s intention
- The misrepresentation (whether written or verbal)
- How the promises made you decide to take or leave a job
- How you rely on the false promises
- The number of damages you suffered (that can be calculated, like losing a certain amount of money or moving your family across the country)
The false promises must be intentional, which can be hard to prove. Often employers say they made a mistake or a misstatement, and without a record of the conversation, an employee can be in a “they said/I said” argument with no proof.
You might have a hard time proving you believed a promise if it is unreasonable or outlandish. A judge is unlikely to believe you took a job after being promised triple the normal salary for the role or a private jet.
Having a record of the meetings, emails, promises, phone calls, messages, letters, etc., can go a long way in court to prove your case. Keep in mind each state has laws on recording conversations without one or both parties consent.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one would like to learn more about Sue Employer for False Promises, get your free consultation with one of our Employment Attorneys today!