An ex-manager, who quit his job at a giant supermarket chain outlet to accept an offer with significantly higher pay from a multinational company, has won 35,000 yuan ($5,550) in compensation after the firm revoked their offer at the last-minute, according to a Shanghai court Tuesday.

The former manager, identified only by his surname, Xiong, in his late 30s, earned a monthly salary of more than 10,000 yuan at his supermarket job, but decided to quit after signing an agreement to take on a new job as an Apple retail store manager last year, said Pudong New Area People's Court.

The US consumer electronics retailer, which currently has other cases ongoing in China over trademark infringement disputes, lost the lawsuit because Xiong was specifically asked to retrieve a release letter from his company before the decision to hire him was reversed, the court said.

Apple said the decision to cancel the offer made to Xiong after three rounds of interviews and requesting the document that authorizes employees to switch jobs in China, followed an unexpectedly poor reference given by a previous employer.

Xiong sued Apple for 65,000 yuan over contract negligence, arguing that the results of the background check had no real basis, and therefore, could not be used as the reason to cancel his employment offer.

Apple retorted, saying that the unfavorable review was enough for them to change their minds, and that Xiong was informed of the new decision as soon as the firm received the employer's feedback.

The court ruled that while Xiong was a victim of contract negligence, he should be compensated less than the amount he sought, saying that his losses were not that extreme.

Global Times