Constructive Discharge—A. K. A. Was it a Quit or a Discharge? Understanding the Doctrine and Prevention of Constructive-Discharge Cases
George W. Bohlander
DOI: 10.2190/HDUP-D097-2EBT-GE3X
Abstract
It is increasingly common for employees to quit or resign their employment due to Title VII charges and subsequently claim their employment rights were violated since they were constructively discharged. That is, they were "forced to resign because of intolerable working conditions purposefully placed upon them by the employer. A finding of constructive discharge can be quite expensive for employers and entail reinstatement with back pay, front pay in lieu of reinstatement, damages, and attorney's fees. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, to trace the legal development of the constructive-discharge doctrine, thereby illustrating its impact on employee rights and employer responsibilities. Second, based on the court cases discussed. the article concludes by providing seven important guidelines to prevent constructive-discharge lawsuits.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.