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[johnr]

We had a search this year, which unsurprisingly took a lot of our collective time, and much conciliation with the Dean.  We offered the position, it was accepted, and our new colleague signed onboard.

Now s/he has contacted us, in an email that has left us all fuming.  Home institution has, apparently, counteroffered and they "never expected this to happen!"  (The whole mail is a mix of this smug/breathless style.)  In a nutshell, s/he is reneging on us.

In the context of a bad year anyway, this news leaves me fuming.  Do people have no ethics in these situations?  I know our profession rewards disloyalty, but this is a bit much.  Are we just supposed to pass along best wishes and tacitly condone such bad behavior?  Is this kind of poor form more common than I realized? 

The only way to get a bump in salary here (other than when you get tenure and when you make full professor) is to come to the chair and dean with a solid offer from another school and ask if he or she wants to make a counteroffer.  That's the way it's done.   

[ruralguy]

Our administration would usually in these cases say "Thats great for you! Good luck in your new position!"

[pastafarian]

Yes, a contract was signed, and no, we always make a point of treating all our candidates really well.  Point well taken about knowing in advance what a Dick Cheney s/he now turns out to be, though.

But thanks to the reponses on the forum here.  I have vented and can now resume a life of beatific musing.

[twanda]

Soooo pastafarian, is there a 2nd choice- will you be going down your list??? There are lots of folks still looking, hoping, waiting... I'm sure hu wasn't the only bright and shinny candidate on the market.

[johnr]

Our administration would usually in these cases say "Thats great for you! Good luck in your new position!"

Well, that's the entire point.  If you're a star, bringing in lots of grant money and prestige to the university, they'll try and keep you.

[carebearstare]

I find it interesting that when new candidates are on the market and a situation like this comes up, most people decry the breach in ethics this would entail. That most people here are saying "them's the breaks" makes me wonder if the rules change once you actually have a job. Is that the case? So far only VP has noted that there might be an ethical problem here.

OP, I feel for you and think it's a $hitty thing to do after a signed contract. If her home institution wanted to keep her so badly, they should have made the counteroffer a long time ago.

[cgfunmathguy]

I find it interesting that when new candidates are on the market and a situation like this comes up, most people decry the breach in ethics this would entail. That most people here are saying "them's the breaks" makes me wonder if the rules change once you actually have a job. Is that the case? So far only VP has noted that there might be an ethical problem here.

OP, I feel for you and think it's a $hitty thing to do after a signed contract. If her home institution wanted to keep her so badly, they should have made the counteroffer a long time ago.

Chime. I keep running the scenario through my head that turning in the resignation letter will cause the president to suddenly meet every demand I might have. However, I've already signed a contract with MyNewCollege to start in the fall. While I may regret leaving if the president meets my demands, I still believe that leaving is the only thing to do at this point. Of course, I'm looking forward to the move.

[yellowtractor]

Oh come on.  We've had, what, roughly ninety-six Fora threads on reneging--actually doing it, thinking about doing it, thinking about thinking about doing it--in the past three years.  Surely we've uncovered every ethical pebble by now?

[daniel_von_flanagan]

As VP said, once the candidate signed the contract they were legally obligated to take the position.  You could sue them for "specific performance", though I can only think of one case where a campus I was at has done this.

Up until there is a firm agreement on both sides, either side is within their rights to terminate the relationship.  Once there is a firm agreement, there is an ethical (and sometimes legal) obligation to follow through.  Some people on the forum think that such obligations are only on on side or the other (usually the side they're not on), others think that ethics are measured in terms of the severity of the punishment (that is, if there's no downside then there's no reason not to do it).  These positions have never made any sense to me, though I can see that they do of course give their proponents a material advantage.  - DvF

[dismal_sci]

So no one else was surprised that the person reneged through email?  The way to reneg is on the phone to the chair and then follow up with a letter.

[kamiakin]

Yes, a contract was signed

In that case the person is a weasel.

[catcat]

Just wanted to share.  My current dept (where I am a VAP) hired a star and didn't even consider me for the position, since I wasn't shiny enough.  I was sad, since I really like the place, got over it, and was about to take another VAP position for the next year.  My chair just informed me that the star, after negotiating the hell out of the contract and signing it almost two months ago, just told them that he is taking a position in a much shinier place.  Lucky me, since it is late in the year and they're out of money, they asked me if I can stay another year.  Yay for reneging little bastards :)

[choirguy]

As VP said, once the candidate signed the contract they were legally obligated to take the position.  You could sue them for "specific performance", though I can only think of one case where a campus I was at has done this.

If the contract was signed, you could sue.  But there are very few courts that will require specific performance on a personal services contract.  You could cost Dr. Thinks-He/She-Is-A-Star some money, but it would hardly be worth the hassle.  Just keep the name in your mental file and mention the situation in passing at the cocktail party at your next professional association meeting.  News travels fast.

If the contract was not yet signed - Oh well.  Manure happens.

[mozman]

No one will get sued for this - get real.  This happens all the time.  Like it or not, academia is now a market economy.  The eroding of tenure for the sake of finances has driven it.  There is no such thing as loyalty anymore.

Even if I has signed a contact, if something substantially better came along (professionally, personally, financially) I would take it without hesitation.  If I was threatened with a breach of contract lawsuit, I would show up at day one and resign.  I'm not a slave.  the only power an employee has is the ability to quit.

I like my current job, but I have no loyalty.  Luckily (or not), my institution is upfront about having no loyalty toward me either - I am an overhead-generating machine.  As long as I have grants, I can do what I want.  If I have no money, i'll be tossed out for someone shinier.

mm

[mozman]

 Just keep the name in your mental file and mention the situation in passing at the cocktail party at your next professional association meeting.  News travels fast.

What do you expect to happen from this?  In my experience, you can be widely recognized as a raging dysfunctional a**hole and if you have lots of money and/or are a bigshot Universities will still fall all over themselves to recruit you.

mm