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For someone who is not a lawyer, you're making some strong statements about the legal aspects of this situation.

Yes, it's true that an undelivered gift is not a contract...but you seem to have forgotten (or possibly never learned) about promissory estoppel. If the giftee was told of the gift and reasonably acted upon the expectation of the gift, then the gifter could very well be obligated to actually deliver the gift. This is covered in first-year contract law. There are indeed a great number of cases on this point in which the gifter was required to provide the gift.

Also, generally employee bonuses are considered compensation for labor, not gifts. Labor laws trump contract laws. If a company tells an employee that they are getting extra compensation through an official means of communication (like an internal email), they may very well be bound to that, even if it turns out the email was just a phishing test sent by the IT department. You do not fuck with the Labor Board.



You're totally right about promissory estoppel (I updated my other comments about that). It's been awhile since I was in 1L :). Again, nothing I say should be construed as legal advice. Appreciate the feedback.




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