Job Offers and Fraudulent Inducement in New York
In New York, an employee has a legal claim against an employer who induces him or her to accept a job based on fraudulent misrepresentations. Such a claim, known as fraudulent inducement, exists only where the employee can demonstrate that the employer lied about facts that existed at the time of the offer. Promises of things that have yet to occur, or hopes about what will occur, are not actionable.
Recently, in the case of Herzfeld v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, a federal judge in New York City dismissed an employee’s claim of fraudulent inducement where the company promised the employee a “brighter future” and that, “over time,” he would be better compensated at the new job. The court found that these expressions of hope were not “present facts,” meaning that they were not lies that could form the basis of a fraudulent inducement claim.
