Opinion ID: 2543127
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the wrongful discharge cause of action extends to constructive discharge

Text: ¶ 26 This court has not had the opportunity to address whether an employee who has been constructively discharged has a wrongful discharge cause of action. However, the Utah Court of Appeals has addressed this question. In Sheikh v. Department of Public Safety, the court of appeals held that an employee who believes that he or she has been constructively discharged may bring an action for discrimination [based on pregnancy] because `an involuntary or coerced resignation is equivalent to a discharge.' 904 P.2d 1103, 1107 (Utah Ct.App.1995) (quoting Bulaich v. AT & T Info. Sys., 113 Wash.2d 254, 778 P.2d 1031, 1033 (1989) (internal quotation marks omitted)). In so holding, the court of appeals defined constructive discharge as resignation under working conditions that a reasonable person would view as intolerable. Id. Like the court of appeals, other jurisdictions have recognized that a constructive discharge is the same as an actual discharge. See, e.g., Breitsprecher v. Stevens Graphics, Inc., 772 So.2d 1125, 1130 (Ala.2000) (recognizing that an employee who was constructively discharged for claiming workers' compensation benefits had a wrongful discharge cause of action against her former employer); Sterling Drug, Inc. v. Oxford, 294 Ark. 239, 743 S.W.2d 380, 385 (1988) (upholding a wrongful discharge jury instruction based on substantial evidence of constructive discharge); Casenas v. Fujisawa USA, Inc., 58 Cal.App.4th 101, 67 Cal. Rptr.2d 827, 835 (1997) ([A] constructive discharge is legally regarded as a firing rather than a resignation.); Lathrop v. Entenmann's, Inc., 770 P.2d 1367, 1372-73 (Colo. Ct.App.1989) (holding that an employee who claimed that he had been constructively discharged for filing a workers' compensation claim had stated a proper wrongful discharge claim); GTE Prods. Corp. v. Stewart, 421 Mass. 22, 653 N.E.2d 161, 168 (1995) (recognizing that constructive discharge is legally regarded as a firing rather than a resignation). ¶ 27 We agree with the Utah Court of Appeals and hold that a resignation under working conditions that a reasonable employee would consider intolerable is equivalent to a termination. Thus, an employee's cause of action for wrongful discharge as a result of the exercise of workers' compensation rights extends to constructive discharge. Holding otherwise would make it possible for employers both to escape their obligations to provide compensation by retaliating against injured employees with intolerable working conditions and to avoid a wrongful discharge cause of action by never actually terminating the employee. Just as allowing an employer to terminate an injured employee seeking compensation undermines the purpose of the Act, so too does allowing an employer to make conditions so intolerable that an employee has no choice but to resign. Therefore, we believe that recognizing constructive discharge as actual termination is necessary to give effect to the purposes of the Act.