Serious question - Isn't the company opening themselves up to more litigation by ghosting? For instance, doesn't a hiring company have to have a legitimate reason for not hiring someone, otherwise they're opening themselves up to a discrimination lawsuit? "Because you gave me no reason as to why you didn't hire me, I'm now left to believe it was based it was on my ethnicity, which is illegal. So here's a lawsuit."

I'm not a lawyer, just an MBA. But I believe it's the same principle as the famous "Shut The Fuck Up" advice for talking to cops. You have to incriminate yourself to be liable. If you don't say anything then you're presumed innocent (barring other evidence), and saying anything does you no favours.

That's just an excuse for bad behavior. "We are going in another direction" isn't going to get you sued any more than radio silence will.