Can I Quit My Job and Still File a Discrimination Claim?

Sometimes bullying or harassment can become so bad at a place of employment that it feels unbearable. Whether you have initiated any kind of action in response to a hostile workplace or another form of harassment, or you have yet to bring the issue forward, you may be thinking about resigning from your job because the workplace conditions are affecting you emotionally, psychologically, and physically. However, you are likely concerned about whether you will be able to continue to take, or to initiate, legal action if you quit your job. If you resign from or quit your current job because of an intolerable work environment, can you still file an employment discrimination claim in Florida?

You may be able to based on the principle of “constructive discharge,” but it can be complicated. Our South Florida employment discrimination lawyers can provide you with the information you need.

What is a Constructive Discharge in Florida?

What is a constructive discharge? In short and simplified language, this is a legal term that refers to a situation in which an employee’s resignation was not legally voluntary — as if the employee did not actually have a choice — because the treatment or environment they were subjected to at work was so intolerable.

In an Eleventh Circuit case out of Florida many years ago, Henson v. City of Dundee (1982), the court relied on another circuit court’s definition of a constructive discharge under Title VII, meaning a situation where “an employee involuntarily resigns in order to escape intolerable and illegal employment requirements to which he or she is subjected because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” In other words, constructive discharge can occur under a law that prohibits discrimination when the discriminatory treatment is so intolerable that an employee’s resignation — a decision that we traditionally understand to be the employee’s choice — is involuntarily because of the unlawful treatment.

Moving Forward with an Employment Discrimination Case

If you have not yet quit or resigned from your job due to discrimination, you should seek advice from an experienced South Florida employment discrimination attorney before you do so. It may be worth it to stay in your position to file a charge of discrimination.

Yet even if you have already left your job — seemingly by “choice” — you may be able to work with a discrimination lawyer to prove that your resignation was actually a “constructive discharge,” allowing you to move forward with a discrimination claim under Title VII, another federal anti-discrimination law, or the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA).

Contact Our Palm Beach Gardens Employment Discrimination Lawyers for Assistance Today

Nobody should have to work in a place where they are subject to unlawful employment discrimination. Whether you are facing harassment at work, retaliation, or any other type of adverse and unlawful treatment under state or federal law, it is important to seek legal advice about your options. One of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination attorneys at Sconzo Law Office can speak with you today to learn more about your case and to assist you in moving forward with a claim. Contact us for additional information.

Source:

law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/682/682.F2d.897.80-5827.html