^^^^^^ This is spot on

Actually there could be a case here. If the advertised terms were changed and the OP was stuck between a rock and a hard place, it could be argued that the contract was signed under duress. But there better be clear evidence of it, and/or verifiable evidence that others were given better deals.

Some lessons in life are free and some are not.
Life and learn.

No, it really couldn't.

50k is a lot of scratch. What airplane was this? Global/G-machine?

The regionals which had training contracts had learned to have applicants sign the contract at the time of the job offer. They had found that making them sign the contract on day one of ground school constituted duress because the new-hire had already quit his old job and such contracts were then hard to enforce. This was a situation where everybody knew darn well that there was going to be a training contract and what the terms were, but it wouldn't hold up in court if the employer had no hard evidence to prove that the applicants knew before day one.

That was a loophole. In this case I think it might be legit.

I would say he has a case at least worth discussing with a lawyer if he has docs showing certain conditions were advertised, but more onerous conditions were applied after he had quit his old job.

If that can resolved with a phone call from a lawyer, all good. But again it might be hard on your future employment opportunities if you end up involved in a public record lawsuit. Gotta weigh cost vs. benefit on that...

What type of gun was it, I wonder, that they held to his head during that signing?

It must have been very scary.

I didn't say he was going to win. Just refuting his assertion that what he did was somehow justified by circumstances beyond his control. There were other options to signing that contract.

A contract signed under duress is not enforceable.

If the Company wants to collect show them what was originally offered to you versus the revised contract they actually put in front of you after you had already quit your job, turned down other offers, relocated, etc, etc. Tell them you signed their revised contract under duress and that not only is it not enforceable but you are entitled to other damages as well - perhaps multiples of what they are asking. Tell them you would be reluctant but forced to pursue these options with your attorney if they wish to proceed.

In your correspondence, copy your hiring manager, HR and the Company's legal department and ask for a response in how they would like to proceed.

He signed the contract.

Guess who has the burden of proof.