Contracts of employment: Damages for breach of a promise of employment

Guided by ordinary contractual principles, the Northern Ireland High Court in Robert McDowell Gill and others v Cape Contractors Ltd [1985] IRLR 499 rules that the plaintiffs, who had given up secure employment to work for a new employer, were entitled to compensation when the new employer was subsequently unable to take them on. The court found that the employer's promise gave rise to a collateral contract between the parties which was enforceable by the plaintiffs.