Counter offer reneged on

I recently accepted a counter offer from my employer to continue my employment there. I did not have the foresight to obtain this offer in writing. They are now delaying my salery increase and reneging on certain other aspects of the offer. Do I have any recourse?

1 answer  |  asked Aug 29, 2001 7:49 PM [EST]  |  applies to New York

Answers (1)

David M. Lira
Oral Contracts

In most cases, employment agreements do not have to be in writing. But, as Yogi Berra once said, "An oral contract isn't worth the paper it's written on." In translation, that means it is very hard to prove an oral agreement to the satisfaction of a court.

Do you have recourse? Yes. You could sue for those aspects of the oral agreement that the employer is not fulfilling. The real question, however, is whether you are likely to win in a lawsuit based on the oral agreement. Because oral contracts are hard to prove, your chances of winning in a suit based on an oral contract are, at best, 50 percent. So, do you have a viable means of recourse? I'm not so sure.

posted by David M. Lira  |  Sep 5, 2001 11:40 AM [EST]

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