Respond to Chapter 9, Problem 4 on Promissory Estoppel

Respond to Chapter 9, Problem 4 on promissory estoppel:

Facts: The main facts that are pertinent to the issue at hand start with Hernandez, an employee at Nestle, who left Nestle to take a job in a different city with UPS. Hernandez moved his family, incurred relocation expenses, sold personal belongings, and terminated a lease to be in his new city of El Paso for the start of his new position with UPS. Hernandez’s start date was delayed, and when he did start, he only worked onsite for two days, and the third day, he worked from home after being told that he should go home, since he was not an official employee. The following week, he was told by human resources at UPS that his employment offer was not honored, and further, he would not be paid for the two days he worked. Hernandez is suing UPS on the grounds of promissory estoppel to recovery his out of pocket moving expenses (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010).

Issue: The root issue that coincides with the legal rule is the fact that Hernandez suffered a financial loss when he relocated his family to a new city for the sole purpose of working for UPS (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010).

Rule: The legal rule that is being reviewed is the promissory estoppel, which is defined as “a legal principle that prevents a person who made a promise from reneging when someone else has reasonably relied on the promise and will suffer a loss if the promise is broken” (Legal Information Institute, 2012).

Analysis: Hernandez had the promise of a new job waiting for him in El Paso. Such a promise, in fact, that he terminated a lease on a current apartment, got rid of furniture, incurred expenses traveling to a new city and securing a new place to live, all with the promise of financial security from his new position at UPS. When UPS decided that they were not going to employ Hernandez, and did not even pay him for two days’ worth of work, Hernandez sustained a financial loss that was out of his control. This...