How Your Employer Can Make You Quit: Advice from a Los Angeles Employment Lawyer
There are times when you may feel that your rights as an employee have been violated by your employer. Perhaps you have experienced discrimination or sexual harassment. You may feel that what an employer is asking of you is not legal. If you find yourself in such a situation, an employment attorney in LA can give you advice and help you to protect your rights.
What is constructive dismissal?
Your employer may adopt a passive-aggressive approach where you unwittingly participate in your own termination. The employer may subtly make your working environment so hostile that you feel quitting is your only option. This is called constructive dismissal.
If the reason you are “unwanted” as an employee is that you were a whistleblower or has anything to do with retaliation or discrimination, you have the law on your side.
The difference between a voluntary and involuntary resignation
If you resign voluntarily, you do not have the benefit of a severance package, unemployment benefits and so on. If your resignation is involuntary, this is not the case. Winning a constructive dismissal lawsuit means that your resignation is regarded as involuntary rather than voluntary. This means you have certain rights that are not available to those who quit their jobs voluntarily.
Why is it difficult to prove?
Constructive dismissal can be difficult to prove as it requires more than just an unpleasant work environment. In most cases, the employer has to have acted in a way that violates the law.
You will need to prove that any reasonable person would not have been able to work under similar hostile conditions and would have been forced to resign. The best employment lawyer in LA would be able to advise you as to whether you have a case or not.
Employer knowledge
You have to prove that your employer knew about the problem and refused to fix it. You will need to have proof of all the measures you took to bring the situation to the employer’s attention, such as letters to the HR department.
Your employer can’t be held responsible for what wasn’t known. On the other hand, if your employer has knowledge that you are being sexually harassed and you report it but nothing is done about it and you quit your job because of this, it meets the requirements for filing a constructive dismissal claim. An employment attorney in LA will help you to build and file your case.
When can you file?
If you have been discriminated against by your employer due to your race, religion, gender, sex, age, nationality and you quit your job as a result, you may be able to file a constructive dismissal lawsuit. There are a number of circumstances where you could file for wrongful dismissal.
Contact us
Contact us at Jance Weberman on (213) 386-9100 and you can ask an experienced employment lawyer in Los Angeles for advice. Our firm’s services cover all areas of Southern California. You will find there are protections available to you to cause discrimination or harassment to stop so you’re not forced to quit your job.