A question that comes up quite frequently in New Jersey employment law is whether an employee that quits their job can later sue the employer for wrongful discharge. Most employees are under the impression that they can sue their employer for wrongful discharge, even if they resign. On the defense side, most employers fear they can be subject to a wrongful discharge case if the employee voluntarily leaves employment. What is the answer?
The answer is that most of time the employee will have an extremely weak case for wrongful discharge against their former employer if they resign employment. New Jersey employment law recognizes a theory which is known as constructive discharge. This is a theory which allows an employee to sue his or her former employer for wrongful discharge, even though the employee resigns. In order for an employee to prevail under this theory, the employee will have to show that he left because the work environment was so intolerable that no reasonable person would stay employed and endure the work conditions. This is a fairly high burden to meet for the employee under New Jersey's employment laws.
It is important to remember that harassment cases may be brought irrespective of the employee's decision to resign employment. However, an employee's decision to resign may affect his damages claim at the time of trial, unless he can show that he was constructively discharged.
Employees in New Jersey should always contact a New Jersey employment lawyer before making the decision to resign employment. Likewise, employers should always contact an employment lawyer when an employee indicates that he may intend to resign because of the work conditions.
