Abu Dhabi court orders firm to pay Dh540,000 over axed job offer

A budgeting manager quit his job to take a better role with a new firm - only to find himself with nothing when they revoked it

A judge ruled the man had lost out significantly as a result of the company's actions. The National

An Abu Dhabi company must pay Dh540,000 in compensation to a man they offered a job - only to revoke it at the last minute.

The firm lost a legal battle when a judge agreed that the would-be employee lost out financially as a result of the company's actions.

The plaintiff, whose identity or nationality was not revealed, was offered the job of budgeting manager by the company in August 2018, with a monthly salary of Dh90,000, in addition to health benefits and flight allowances for himself and his family.

The offer drove him to quit his previous job, which paid Dh76,000 a month, after the new employer notified him that he was accepted for the job.

However, the company never finalised his recruitment – he told the court.

A Court of First Instance ruled that the company must pay the man Dh540,000 as a compensation for his financial losses.

The company, who was also not identified, appealed the verdict, and argued that the plaintiff did not examine the offer properly before quitting his job; the letter was not signed by the right authorised person.

The plaintiff was rushed to quit his previous job and accepted their job offer without checking all the details, said the company.

The appeals court was not convinced, and this week upheld the lower court’s verdict.

“The company’s claim that it has no connection with the offer that was presented... has no proof and therefore must be rejected,” said the court.