A few employees
have tried to get around the at-will employment contract by
claiming fraud, bad faith, or some similar theory. With two
exceptions, they have all lost. In both of the exceptions, a court
recognized a promissory estoppel claim against the employer.The
first exception is Roberts v. Geosource Drilling Services, Inc.,
757 S.W.2d 48 (Tex. App. -- Houston [1st Dist.] 1988, no writ). In
that case, Geosource hired Roberts to work on an offshore project.
Roberts signed a written contract with Geosource, though the
contract provided for employment at will. Relying on oral promises
and the written agreement, Roberts quit his current job and
prepared to go to work for Geosource. A few days later, Geosource
called him and told him
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It is no answer
that the parties' written contract was for an employment-at-will,
where the employer foreseeably and intentionally induces the
prospective employee to materially change his position to his
expense and detriment, and then repudiates its obligations before
the written contract begins to operate.Several other courts have
rejected Roberts or have found ways to distinguish it. No court has
followed Roberts. It is not clear whether any court will follow
Roberts in the future, but as of now it remains good law.The second
exception is Hernandez v. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc., 496 F.
Supp. 2d 778 (W.D. Tex. 2007). The facts of that case are
essentially the same as Roberts, except that the employee had
actually moved from Illinois to El Paso based on the promise of
employment. Apparently, the only damages that the plaintiff sought
were his travel and moving expenses. The federal district court
noted the conflict between Roberts and the other Texas state court
cases, but declined to resolve the conflict:The Court recognizes
that a split exists between Texas state appellate courts, and
declines to opine on that
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