NOTE: THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE.

Local TV station CP24 reports this story about some Ford workers being “laid off” before the start of their first shift. Apparently, quite a few people were hired by Ford not long ago. They all quit their old jobs and were eager to join Ford. Only they were told today (3 days before their shift start) that their first shift is being delayed.

Although the workers are not technically “laid off” (their employment is only being delayed), these workers are without jobs for the moment. Besides acknowledging all the furor in the community, I want to comment on  possible remedies in this situation.

First of all, if the workers have signed their contracts, the law of contracts will govern this incident. Generally, the law of contracts offers remedies that treat the parties as if the contract were carried out. If this is the case, Ford should be offering compensation to honour the contracts in question.

However, things become trickier if there are no written contracts in place. By virtue of being hired, the workers may nonetheless be able to establish that there are indeed employment contracts between the parties, albeit they are without express terms.

On occasion, a party may be able to claim what is called “reliance damage.” If this type of claim were successful, the courts would give the grieved party, the plaintiff, some compensation for expenses attributable to the contracts. The plaintiff, however, would be required to demonstrate reasonable reliance on the contract, and the losses in question must be within the contemplation of the parties when the contracts were entered into.