summarize? A constructive discharge occurs when an employee resigns from his/her employment because (s)he is being subjected to unlawful employment practices. If the resignation is directly related to the respondent's unlawful employment practices, it is a foreseeable consequence of those practices and constitutes a constructive discharge. Commission Decision No. 72-2062, CCH EEOC Decisions (1973) ¶ 6366. Respondent is responsible for a constructive discharge in the same manner that it is responsible for the outright discriminatory discharge of a charging party.

Example - CP, a Black, was employed by R as an assembly line factory worker. He was required to work closely with other employees working on the assembly line. CP alleges that several White employees have repeatedly harassed him by telling racial jokes, by directing racial slurs at him, and by tampering with the machinery that he worked with thereby interfering with his job performance. CP has complained about these incidents to his supervisor, but no action has been taken against CP's co-workers. In fact, his supervisor felt that many of the racial jokes and pranks were funny. CP resigned and filed a charge of race discrimination. R's defense to the charge is that it did not discharge CP, that he voluntarily resigned. This is a case of constructive discharge. Employers are required to maintain an atmosphere free from racial harassment. (See § 615 for a complete discussion of harassment.) If an employee resigns because (s)he is being subjected to racial harassment and the resignation is directly related to that harassment, the Commission will view the resignation as a constructive discharge. See, Commission Decision No. 72-2062, CCH EEOC Decisions (1973) ¶ 6366; Commission Decision No. 70-683, CCH EEOC Decisions (1973) ¶ 6145; Calcote v. Texas Educational Foundation, Inc., 578 F.2d 95, 17 EPD ¶ 8524 (5th Cir. 1978); Young v. Southwestern Savings and Loan Association, 509 F.2d 140, 9 EPD ¶ 9995 (5th Cir. 1975).

If a charging party alleges that (s)he resigned from his/her employment because she was being subjected to discriminatory employment practices, the charging party should be asked to provide the following information.

(1)       The reason (s)he gave respondent for resigning his/her position;

(2)       A detailed explanation of the discriminatory employment practices (s)he was being subjected to;

(3)       How long (s)he was subjected to these discriminatory employment practices prior to his/her resignation;

(4)       Whether the discriminatory practices ceased prior to his/her resignation, and if so, when they ceased; and

(5)       Whether (s)he complained to his/her supervisor or other respondent official about the discriminatory employment practices, and if so, when and what was his/her response;

The following inquiries should be included in a request for information submitted to the respondent.

(1)       The reason charging party gave for his/her resignation;

(2)       Whether charging party ever complained about being subjected to discriminatory employment practices, and if so, when; and

(3)       If the answer to the above is yes, whether any action was taken to eliminate these practices, and if so, describe.