If you felt pressure had been put on you to resign because of your religion you may be entitled to receive compensation. This is because your forced resignation may be considered a termination. This is called a constructive discharge.
If your employer constructively discharged you, the law considers that you were fired which means you have certain rights that employees who willingly resign don’t have. This includes the right to receive unemployment benefits and eligibility to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against your employer.
Federal and most state laws prohibit discrimination based on religion in any aspect of employment, including hiring and firing and any other term or condition of employment.
What is Forced Resignation?
Forced resignation or constructive discharge basically means that you have involuntarily resigned from your job often because of pressure put on you due to religion or another protected feature like your gender.
If as an employee you believe you were forced to resign because of your religion this violates employment legislation which prohibits workplace discrimination based on religion. Sometimes forced resignation takes place because the employer is retaliating against you for some reason so it makes life in the workplace intolerable for you.
Constructive Discharge Claim
If you find yourself being forced to resign because your employer has made the workplace intolerable for you to work in due to your religion you may be eligible to file a constructive discharge claim.
Typically the term "constructive discharge" is when a worker has been forced to resign because the employer has created a hostile or intolerable work environment or has applied other forms of pressure which has forced you the employee to resign because of your religion.
To be eligible to file a constructive discharge claim you must have terminated the contract by resigning. When you resign, you should include in your resignation letter that you are leaving the job because your employer has breached the employment contract.
When proving a constructive discharge has taken place you only need to prove that your employer deliberately created working conditions that were so unbearable that the ordinary employee would feel compelled to resign. The types of evidence required to help support a constructive discharge claim are as follows:
- your offer of employment letter;
- your employment contract;
- the job description;
- any letters and emails between you and your employer;
- any emails you can source between managers and/or HR;
- witness statements from work colleagues.
You need to provide proof that you have responded to the breach within a reasonable period of time. This will mean producing proof that reveals of when the breaches occurred and when you resigned.
Next Steps to Take
Once you begin to experience an intolerable work condition which has been created just for you based on your religion you should assemble all the evidence that has forced you to resign. In order to win a claim you need to prove that many times you were discriminated against due to your religion and these situations were not dealt with by your company.
A forced resignation is not an easy situation to handle on your own. Filling out the free evaluation form could help clarify if you have a claim or not.
- Religious Discrimination Letter
- What Can I Do If I Was Fired Without Cause?
- Who to Contact If Wrongfully Terminated
