Verbally offered employment then rescinded

Hello all,

About 2 weeks ago my fiance was verbally offered a job in Charleston, SC. She accepted and we went about the process of moving from Connecticut. We broke our current apartment's lease and most of our posessions are in transit to SC. The only thing we hadn't accomplished yet was finding a new apartment in Charleston. The total we've spent moving so far is around $2,000.Today the company called her and informed her that they wouldn't hire her. The reason they gave was her bad credit.

So to sum it up next Friday we'll be homeless with most of our possessions 800 miles away. Are we just screwed here? Is there any kind of legal argument involving a verbal agreement available to us if appealing to there humanity doesn't work?

If I was you I would file against the company in small claims court. The problem is that you will probably have to file in SC.

While I deeply appreciate the response, legaleagle, it just doesn't help us much right now.

First off hiring a lawyer would cost us, what? $500-1000 minimum, and a settlement, or positive verdict, wouldn't be available for several months - which would still leave us virtually penniless and homeless.

Second, neither one of us has a job atm. Without her job commitment we have 0 chance of finding a place in SC, CT, or anywhere. We have barely $1000 left in savings (Was earmarked for a new apartment). We can't renege on our current appartment lease-break as the complex has already rented out our apt., and has no other vacancies. If we wish to transfer our belongings to a new location (we have family in MN or TX) it would cost an additional $600-$800 to transfer it there. Not to mention neither one of our families are in a position to put us up.

Her promised emplyment company called at 4:45pm, on Friday - 3/3/06 - to tell her they wouldn't hire her for a reason (while, perhaps, valid) should have been addressed looooong before they verbally agreed to hire her(after she had already gone through a 3+ month hire process, including a trip to SC on the company's dime) and verbally asked to have her in Charleston at her earliest possible convenience(They originally asked to have her in Charleston on 3/1/06, but that was physically impossible so both parties agreed on March 15).

So, over the weekend we have nothing to do but cry at our own failures and wonder why such utter and complete bullshit has happened upon us. Please, does anyone have any legal argument that we could use to get her job back? I'm just not sure if a verbal agreement is as binding as, say, a contract. If anyone has any lawyer references that could possibly help, for a minimal fee, we'd also appreciate that.

Honestly, after this mess, she really doesn't want to work for them anymore, but at the very least we need to get her job back so that we can secure a place to live.

Desperate for help,
Andrew Charles

P.S. Is there anywhere where we could warn future employees about this situation? Other then the BBB.

All you can do is sue the employer for breach of verbal contract. Nobody can be forced to hire somebody that they don't want to. If this was the case the employer would make your wife's life a living hell. The courts would never enforce employer to hire your wife even if there was a written contract. They would only award monetary damages. Sorry.