I worked at the Capitol from March 2010-December 2010. My old boss was a State Rep that didn't get re-elected. I applied to places to work back in September of last year. I then decided to join a temp agency and was assigned to work for a health insurance company as a Referral Specialist in late December after my assignment at the Capitol was terminated. The health insurance company started up a new project for different therapies. I excelled at this job. Around sometime in mid to late February I got a phone call from one of the places I applied to back at the Capitol and was scheduled for an interview. I went through the interview process, background check, and was given an offer of hire at the Capitol. The pay was going to be better and I was going to be given insurance and other benefits. I told the health insurance company I was given a job offer at the Capitol and that I would resign after a week. The insurance company asked me what it would take to keep me and they offered to match. The very next day they offered to match the offer the Capitol gave me and I went through the background check and interview process with them. The interview was just a formality and they basically praised my work for a half hour and told me how great I was. I made sure my references contacted their background checker in March so there would be no loose ends on my part if they couldn't start my benefits in April. I took care of everything they asked me to. They told me I would start receiving benefits as of April 1st, 2011 since benefits kick in on the first of the month. Weeks passed by and there was a hold up regarding my employment. My contract with the temp agency was 90 days and expired late March. I was told I was going to be made an employee at the health insurance company with benefits and I wasn't receiving them. I spoke with my supervisors and HR about what the hold up was since it was nearing the end of April and they told me there were some complications with their business and they were having a tough time managing to fit me into their budget. My boss told me she would give me an update about my employment status last Thursday and never met up with me. Today she called me into her office and laid me off. Now I would have never stayed at the health insurance company if I knew they weren't going to honor their word with me that they would match the offer at the Capitol. Do I have a case here to take this up with an employment lawyer? I was screwed out of insurance, and a bigger pay check at the Capitol because I was under the impression they'd match the offer.
Damn. I guess you could talk to a lawyer (free consultation), but unless there was something in writing, I don't think there's much you can do.
you must have really liked working for the ins co and not really liked working for the capitol co (and reject them) to opt to stay with the ins co for the same offer
Hey, I just got laid too! Oh wait, you mean... sorry, nevermind. j/k I'm sorry to hear that. You got screwed. If you're in Texas, I doubt there's much recourse. We're an at-will state, so they can fire you at any time for any reason (that doesn't run afoul of the Constitution).
Texas is an At-will state. A company can fire you for anything. They can also withdraw offers at their whim. You are SOL with regards to that. Perhaps call back the people you turned down to see if they might still consider you for that position?
This exactly... a contract doesn't have to be written to be enacted... it just needs 4 elements - offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, legality, and promissory estoppel occurs when you change your actions based on a an offer - that doesn't allow the other party relief from the contract. you should contact a contract attorney and immediately write down all of the events that occurred... if there are any emails or written docs to help your case - save/print them immediately.
True, Texas is an At-will state. However, if there was/is an employment contract (implied or tangible) he MAY have a case. There is precedent for that in Texas. For example, saying something as simple as: "We look forward to you growing with this organization" or "You have a promising future here" could imply an employment contract. Those statement are actually huge HR don'ts. If there is/was an implied contract, then it can only be terminated by a documented justifiable reason; such as a documented write up, violation of written company policy, insubordination, etc. It's a long shot and just depends on the situation.
Well the company offered tuition reimbursement, overtime (the Capitol offers Comp Time), annual bonuses, insurance, had free parking off 5th street, and it looked like the company was going strong. During the interview both of my supervisors said that the interview was pretty much a formality and praised me for my work for a good half hour straight. It was genuinely nice to be felt as needed as I was at the time. Everything seemed like it was set in stone. My background check went through with the insurance company and they said they'd have me permanent by April 1st.
They did say those things during my interview. When I spoke with my boss about why it was taking so long for my hiring status to become permanent, she said similar things to what you wrote. Before handing in my security badge and being escorted out of the office, I asked her if she was proud of my work or if I did anything wrong to deserve being laid off. She said that it was purely a business decision and that I didn't violate any sort of policy. On top of that she said that I could use her as a reference to apply at other places.
I was in a simlar situation before. I was working as a contract on a big company, then got a perm offer from a smaller company. Big company tells me to stay and they'll hire me perm. I decline offer from small company, then big company says there's a hiring freeze (which was true). I work as a contactor for 4 years and never got hired perm. Looking back I should have told them to put everyting in writing.
