When qualified applicants are scarce, recruiting becomes extremely competitive, particularly when two companies go after the same candidate, as often happens in the case of searching for professionals. After interviewing three short-listed candidates, a high-tech company, Company X, made an offer to one and advised the other two candidates that they were unsuccessful. The successful candidate was given one week to consider the offer. The candidate asked for a week's extension to consider the offer but was granted only an additional three days. At the end of the time period, the candidate verbally accepted the offer and was sent a contract to sign. Rather than returning the signed contract, the candidate informed Company X that he had accepted a position at Company Y. He had received the second offer after verbally accepting the first position at Company X. The second company knew that the candidate had verbally accepted Company X's offer. Before accepting Company Y's offer, the candidate had consulted a respected men- tor who advised him to ignore his verbal commitment to Company X and to accept Company Y's offer. There were no substantial differences in the salaries being offered by each company or in the work that each would expect the candidate to perform. The candidate simply saw Company Y as the more prestigious of the two employers. This scenario can be in the US or Canada.

Questions

1. Did Company Y act ethically, knowing that the candidate had verbally accepted another offer?
2. Does a verbal acceptance constitute a legal and binding contract?
3. Should company X take and action to enforce the verbal commitment? Should it take any legal action against the candidate or Company Y? Why or why not?
4. How can situations like these be avoided?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 Whether Company Y acted ethically knowing that the candidate had verbally accepted another offer is a matter of personal judgment From a business pe... View the full answer