The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law that aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some situation at work, practical advice on how to turn the tables on their employers.

In this episode entitled “Take this Job and Shove it; How Resigning Will Make Your Discriminatory Employer do a Celebratory Back Flip”, attorney Josh Van Kampen walks you through the pros and cons of resigning at work when you have are on the wrong side of some sort of situation and how that decision will affect your chances in court.

Josh explains the biggest con to resigning is that by resigning a person has added another hurdle that must be cleared to win a discrimination lawsuit against their employer. In a typical discrimination case, a person must prove they were fired with discriminatory intent, and that’s already pretty difficult. If a person resigns, now they must convince the court that it should treat their resignation as if you'd been terminated.

To convince the court it should treat a resignation the same as a termination, a person will need to prove the conditions at work were so intolerable that a reasonable person would have resigned. Things that help convince a court of this, outside of physical violence or sexual harassment, is if a manager has told an employee they should resign, hours or pay has been cut back significantly, or their job responsibilities have been changed or hollowed out. None of these facts alone are going to convince the court alone but are useful facts to have in your favor.

Josh also talks about how employers have a huge advantage when they are allowed to reframe a termination as a resignation. In many cases, they will try to make it look like a resignation even when it isn't.

Finally, Josh discusses some of the pitfalls people often fall into when thinking of resigning. One is taking an offer to leave when you may have a good discrimination case or giving a polite resignation letter, write a resignation letter that tells the truth. 

Quotes

Josh on how resigning affects an employment law case when there is good evidence of discrimination:

“[It]doesn't mean that we can't prevail in a case, but the job just got a whole lot harder.” (01:27)

Josh on how the court views resigning:

“Understand that the court's expectation is that where you're being discriminated against at work, or harassed, you are expected to stay and fight.” (05:28)

Josh on the biggest piece of advice he has to give folks thinking of resigning:

“As a general rule, my advice to folks would be the longer that you can stick it out, the better.” (08:29)

Next Episode:

Josh Van Kampen provides more practical advice when we discuss how to prove a discrimination case.

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The Walking Papers is a bi-weekly podcast by Van Kampen Law, a plaintiff-side employment law firm based out of Charlotte, NC, This podcast aims to give listeners, who are on the wrong side of some sort of situation at work, practical advice on how to turn the tables on their employers. This podcast is just an educational resource. It does not constitute legal advice and is no substitute for consulting an employment attorney about your unique situation before making legal decisions. Visit our website for more online resources and videos at NCemploymentattorneys.com, or better yet, call (704) 247-3245 for a free initial intake interview so Van Kampen Law can evaluate your case.