Resignations

Remind bosses about legal risk of ‘make workers so miserable they quit’ strategy

12/03/2010

Some supervisors wrongly assume that employees can’t sue if they quit—only if they’re fired. That makes some bosses think the best way to get rid of overly litigious employees is to make life so horrible that they quit. That’s not smart. Employees who find working conditions so intolerable that they have no choice but to quit can still sue for constructive discharge.

Discrimination or paranoia? Courts can distinguish

11/15/2010

Courts are beginning to get tough on employees who say they had no choice but to quit and then sue for alleged discrimination.

Use exit interviews to identify patterns of supervisor’s hidden discrimination

11/15/2010

Do you suspect a rogue supervisor is driving away employees belonging to a protected class? If so, begin asking tougher questions during your exit interviews. For example, if several black employees who work under the same supervisor have quit or requested transfers, find out why. The problem may be a biased supervisor …

Pay cut may be legit reason to quit, collect unemployment

11/11/2010

To deal with a down economy, employers sometimes cut employee pay. A significant pay reduction may be grounds for an employee to quit and collect unemployment.

Worker quit to care for parent? Know state law

10/28/2010

The news is filled with stories about unemployed workers who can’t find jobs. Yet despite the downturn, some employees find they still must quit their jobs to care for elderly parents. In Pennsylvania, the law makes that easier.

Can you pass the constructive discharge test? Beware lawsuits from employees who quit

10/26/2010

Some supervisors wrongly assume that employees who quit can’t sue because they weren’t fired. That’s not true. An employee who finds conditions so intolerable that he or she has no choice but to quit can sue and allege termination. Fortunately, courts expect employees to have relatively thick skins. Workplaces will never be perfect and courts don’t expect them to be.

Pay cut? Beware constructive discharge claim

10/07/2010

Can an employee you never fired sue you for a discriminatory termination? Oddly enough, yes. Under some circumstances, an employee can quit and claim she was “constructively discharged.” To do so, she has to show conditions at work were intolerable. And now a federal court has concluded that cutting someone’s pay can be an intolerable condition.

Worker quits in a huff and sues? Court: Employers need chance to fix problem

09/24/2010

Courts are starting to toss out lawsuits brought by employees who quit at the first sign of trouble without at least trying to work out a solution. Judges aren’t as willing as they were in the past to accept quitting as just another form of termination. Instead, they seem to be telling employees they need to give their employers a chance to fix problems before resorting to litigation.

If a resigning employee gives two weeks’ notice, can we tell him not to bother coming in anymore?

09/22/2010

Q. If an employee resigns and gives two weeks’ notice, can we tell him he isn’t needed for the two weeks and avoid paying him for that time?

Don’t write overly broad restrictions into noncompetes

09/08/2010

Noncompete covenants in Texas must be limited to a reasonable geographic area or they aren’t enforceable. Unfortunately for employers, that geographic area is usually fairly small.