Constructive Discharge and Wrongful Termination: Can I Still Sue if I Quit?

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Constructive Discharge and Wrongful Termination
Can I Still Sue if I Quit?
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You may have a variety of reasons for quitting
your job. Perhaps the hours were terrible, or the
pay was less than ideal. But, if you left because
your employer made your workplace intolerable,
you may have a legal claim. This type of action
is called constructive discharge. Essentially,
your employer has made your work environment so
bad and is unwilling to correct problems that you
feel forced to resign. When this happens, you
need to talk to wrongful termination attorneys at
the Kaufman Law Firm. You may have legal options.
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Breaking Down Constructive Discharge
Constructive discharge occurs when your employer
takes action (or declines to act) that makes your
job harder to do or just plain miserable. It is
often associated with a discriminatory or illegal
motive. For example, imagine that you have just
reported your employer to OSHA because of various
safety violations. Your employer finds out that
you were the one that talked to OSHA. From that
point forward, your employer gives you terrible
work assignments that are far away from your
home. This forces you to travel away from your
family regularly even though your employer told
you when you were hired that you would only have
to travel a few times per month. The time away
from your family makes home life difficult and
you are forced to quit. You feel like you do not
have any choice but to resign because being away
from your family is not an option for you.
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These situations occur when the employer wants to
get rid of an employee for a reason that is
illegal or discriminatory, but he or she knows
that terminating your employment outright is
likely unlawful. Constructive discharge in this
context is based on either retaliation or
discrimination.
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Many people make the mistake of assuming that if
they quit their job, they give up their legal
rights to sue. This is not trueyou can still
assert a claim for wrongful termination even if
you quit in some circumstances. However, you must
feel like you do not have any other choice before
you quit. Simply resigning for no legitimate
reason, even if it was after you engaged in a
protected activity, will generally not be grounds
for a wrongful termination claim.
Suing For Constructive Discharge
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To prove a wrongful termination case based on
constructive discharge, you must show

• The working conditions were so intolerable that
  it would make any reasonable employee want to
  quit their job and
• The employer knew about the working conditions
  (or caused them) and allowed them to continue.

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• You can also show that the employer intended to
  make your working conditions so bad that it would
  force you to quit. Evidence like this is hard to
  come by, which is why showing that the employer
  knew about the conditions and did nothing is
  often enough to indicate that a constructive
  discharge occurred. However, in some
  circumstances, a manager or supervisor will tell
  others that he or she is trying to get you fired
  or make you quit for one reason or anotherthat
  type of information would be very valuable to
  your case.

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If you recently quit your job, and you think that
decision was forced upon you, you may have been
constructively discharged. Talk to a Los Angeles
wrongful termination attorney to learn more about
your legal rights. Matthew A. Kaufman can help.
Contact them for more information.
Matthew Kaufman
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C O N T A C T
The Kaufman Law Firm
Address 11111 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 1840 Los
Angeles, CA 90025 Phone - 310-981-3404 Website ht
tps//www.harriskaufman.com/contact.shtml