Constructive Termination: Did You Quit or Were You Fired?
Most California employers know that they cannot fire you on the basis of race or religion or pregnancy or age, nor can they fire you in order to “get back at you” (retaliate against you) for doing something that you had a right to do.
So, many employers who want to get rid of you illegally, but don’t want to get in trouble, figure that they have a better plan: they’ll make your life at work so miserable and intolerable, that you end up resigning on your own.
That way, the employer can say that your decision to leave your employment, was voluntary, and made by you, not by them.
Constructive Termination
But that’s not how it works in California. A scenario like that, is exactly what constructive termination is.
An employer cannot legally make your life miserable at work and then blame you for quitting.
Many employees don’t know this; they will be harassed and humiliated or embarrassed or retaliated against, and when the employee can no longer take what their boss is doing to them, they quit. Then, they never seek legal representation, because they figure that they “gave up,” and thus, could never have a claim for wrongful termination.
How Do You Know?
To see whether your termination was, in fact, voluntary or involuntary, courts will usually look at your working conditions to see whether or not a reasonable person in your situation, subjected to what you were subjected to at work, would have quit their jobs. If so, then you may have a claim for constructive termination.
Simple stress is not enough to warrant constructive termination. Nor are natural job changes that you may just not like, such as getting a new boss, or being reassigned to a different position, or a change in company policy that applies to many employees.
But there are times when you are singled out. Imagine that your salary is suddenly cut, or that your job assignments are taken away from you, or that opportunities for advancement that you once had, are now reassigned to someone else.
It can get as bad as constant harassment or being forced to work in abnormally dangerous working conditions. Demotions to lower positions can also warrant constructive termination.
Pairing With Illegal Activity
Note that constructive termination by itself is not illegal.
What is illegal, is when it is paired with an illegal reason for terminating someone—such as being terminated because of age or gender or disability or nationality or as retaliation. But in most cases, when working conditions are fine, and then suddenly take a turn for the worse, it is almost always a sign of ulterior motives, such as discrimination, harassment or retaliation.
You can usually tell that constructive termination is illegal, when it comes close in time, with, say, your reporting harassment or illegal activities, or doing something that your employer didn’t like.
Contact the San Jose employment law attorneys at the Costanzo Law Firm today if you feel that you have been forced to quit your job for illegal reasons or because of harassment or discrimination.
