This. Once in my career I encountered something similar. The first interesting thing I learned about promissory estoppel was that it wasn’t really “law” but rat

This. Once in my career I encountered something similar. The first interesting thing I learned about promissory estoppel was that it wasn’t really “law” but rather a legal concept. As such, things are a bit more vague than the typical legal dispute. Secondly, the lawyer told me that it was only possible to take that route if one had not officially signed an employment contract. The reasoning is that once you’ve signed a contract, you’re technically an employee and your claim would be handled in a different manner. But in many jurisdictions, the wronged person would be treated as having been fired at will and would not have much recourse (as opposed to a promissory estoppel claim) The other concepts in play were common sense things, like the company had to made you a reasonable offer, you took reasonable actions based on that promise, and the company knew you were taking those actions. And finally, the “penalty” is often only the documented losses you really incurred which can seem tiny in comparison to the situation and intangible losses. I suspect many of these cases are settled before going to court. IANAL and YMMV