Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Denial of promised benefits

I recently took a job working for a property management company. Upon interviewing with this company I inquired about employee benefits, mainly a discount on my rent. After two interviews, I was offered a job at a substancial pay cut($15,000), and I took the job under the verbal agreement that I would be recieving a thirty percent discount on the rental amount of an apartment. This was the deciding factor to me acepting the position. I continued to work for three or four weeks, periodically checking with my manager to check the dicount prices. The community manager then had a conversation about my discount with the next level manager when the community manager was informed that I was not going to be able to get a discount. The news was then filtered down to me. I am wonderring if there is anything I can do about this situation? I was hired under the promise of a rental discount, and I now am facing serious financial issues based on this carreer decision.


Asked on 2/12/05, 1:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert F. Cohen Law Office of Robert F. Cohen

Re: Denial of promised benefits

You were induced to take a job under false pretenses. The person who hired you bound the company to the terms to which you agreed. Thus, the company might be liable for the misrepresentation, whether it was negligent or intentional. If intentional, then the company could face punitive damages as well. The reality is, if you threaten a lawsuit while still working there, you likely will lose your job. The best advice is look for another job that is better paying, take care of your housing yourself, and then decide whether legal action is appropriate or just move on and realize that you have learned to put things in writing in the future. Good luck to you.

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Answered on 2/15/05, 10:32 pm


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