Rescinded job offer- any rights?

[mollybob]

After signing an unconditional job contract with a supplier of my husbands current company this riled his current employer who were set to loose a considerable chunk of business by my husband taking this new job. They were a difficult company to work for and constantly threatened to terminate my husbands employment during his 6 years with the company in a bid to drive sales. The current company siezed his computer immediately and accused him of breech of contract as they found that he had downloaded information on a memory stick (he had lots of files stored on memory sticks as his company computer was old and slow) there have been lots of legal threats and this has lead to the company that had offered my husband a job (with a signed contract!) to rescind the offer (they have obviously thought it was too much trouble to drop the company and much easier to drop my husband so have offered him 2k compensation and cited breech of contract as the reason due to the allegations of a very disgruntled employer. The legal fees so far are 4K so don’t cover that and he was at the latter end of his notice period due to start with the new employer next week so now no job, car etc. There are 2 issues here 1 deformation of character from current employer (who never suspended my husband during his notice period- so he continued to work for the company despite the ongoing legal despite. 2 the’new’ company have cited a hearsay allegation for not employing him- is that legal?

[ULA]

Was the new job offer subject to any conditions such as receipt of satisfactory references? If not then the only course of action is for your husband to sue for breach of contract but the likely award by any court would be the amount of wages he would have received had he been given contractual notice.

On the outgoing employers side what was contained within any IT policy about storage of company data on memory sticks as this is often not permissible and secondly what is their policy on the return of company property and information? They may have felt that he was going to leave with data about them that he could pass onto his new company.

Was there any clause in his contract about not taking up employment with a competitor or supplier for a period of time after he left the company? If so this may be the reason they have been in contact with the new company.

[mollybob]

Just to update, the new employer paid me a nominal amount of money. My previous employer has bombarded me with legal letters since. There was a hiatus of a few months but they have started again- the most recent is a draft court order written by a barrister which is littered with inaccuracies about the company so could well be just cobbled together by an intern with a barristers name on it.
The contract stated 3 competitors but nothing about suppliers. The memory stick belongs to me- I had it wiped when I left the company. They have requested it is forensically checked- I have paid for this to be done- there to confirm there is nothing on there. I have been unable to gain employment in the industry now. I have spent so uch money in legal fees. The threatening legal letters from them come at 16:55 on a Friday. I have absolutely nothing now- no job, if this goes to court we will loose the family home.
This case has been going on for exactly a year- it all seems so disproportionate.

[2222]

If I were you I would get a job in a different industry. This would mean you were no longer a threat to your erstwhile employer, and they will probably leave you alone.

The breach of IT policy is trivial in itself but possibly an indication you were downloading company data for your own use. The data stick might be clean now, but you might have other copies. If they want a court order to say you won't use that data, or simply an agreement, why would you oppose it?

It may be grossly unfair, but it's time to move on in a new field of work.

[mollybob]

I now have a poorly paid job but of course I would prefer to earn more money in an industry I know. I have no issues with a court order it’s the financial side of it that I have issue with as I have spent 6k on this and can’t afford any legal representation and can’t afford to pay for their legal fees of 21k so far which they have requested. The reason they are being so difficult and incorrectly assuming I have information about their company is that when they set up theirs business they stole data/ customers from their previous employers in order to set up their business. I really don’t see how checking the household computers could provide them with any solace as if I really wanted to steal contacts I could have used a pen and paper!

[2222]

I now have a poorly paid job but of course I would prefer to earn more money in an industry I know. I have no issues with a court order it’s the financial side of it that I have issue with as I have spent 6k on this and can’t afford any legal representation and can’t afford to pay for their legal fees of 21k so far which they have requested. The reason they are being so difficult and incorrectly assuming I have information about their company is that when they set up theirs business they stole data/ customers from their previous employers in order to set up their business. I really don’t see how checking the household computers could provide them with any solace as if I really wanted to steal contacts I could have used a pen and paper!

I don't see how anyone can advise you, based on the small amount of information you have provided here. Your solicitor presumably has all the facts, though. Also, you said before that you have no job, but now you are contradicting that, so it's quite confusing. Good luck.

[mollybob]

I guess I was hoping someone could provide legal advice as I can’t afford a solicitor now and my life has been dreadful for the last year fraught with worry about whether the family home can be taken away if it all goes to court. I haven’t provided much info as all I had on a memory stick was whilst I was employed some contact names and telephone numbers- I didn’t take them with me when I left my job. How long can solicitors hound me for? How much do I stand to loose? With regards to my job as far as I am concerned my career is over yes I have casual work party img a small amount of money but is not a ‘job’ as I knew it which could pay the bills and support my family.

[2222]

Perhaps you could explain what legal action has been taken? All you have said is that they are hounding you.

[ULA]

So from your original post in March your ex-employer is still making a claim against you. Is this a claim for breach of contract and if not what is the claim for? What are the details of the claim and what outcome are they looking for? I presume that the £21k for their legal fees is has been made as part of their claim.

What stage in the proceeding is this at - you mention a draft Court Order, have you agreed this?