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Resignations

AK Steel sues former employees for stealing trade secrets

04/05/2010
West Chester-based AK Steel has filed suit against three former employees in Butler County Court, alleging that they stole company secrets when they went to work for a competitor.

When unemployment comp is on the line, job dissatisfaction doesn’t justify quitting

03/26/2010

Employees who are forced to work in an unsafe or unhealthy environment may be able to collect unemployment benefits. But some employees seem to think that any work-related problems can justify quitting and then getting unemployment. That’s simply not true.

If no job loss, no damages for whistle-blower

03/26/2010
The New Jersey Superior Court has reversed a large jury award previously won by a whistle-blower because the employer never fired the employee or forced him to quit.

Are we allowed to require a certain amount of advance notice for resignations?

03/26/2010
Q. Is it legal to require management employees to give us a longer resignation period than other employees?

Call lawyer if disloyal employee causes losses

03/19/2010
High-ranking and well-paid employees occasionally think about jumping ship and starting competing companies. And sometimes they try to poach business as they prepare to launch their own enterprises. An employer may never know until it’s too late that a presumably loyal employee was working against its best interests. If that happens to you, consult an attorney right away! In many cases, the former employee may be liable for any losses his predatory behavior caused.

Did employee really quit? Track your efforts to find out

03/12/2010

Sometimes, employees get angry over some real or imagined slight and walk out. To make sure they really did quit and can’t claim constructive discharge, document your efforts to determine what happened.

Age taunts earn $75K for former North Richland Hills employee

03/01/2010

The city of North Richland Hills will pay $75,000 to a former employee to settle a suit claiming that the worker was forced to resign after being continually taunted that he was too old to do his job. The lawsuit said city workers repeatedly ridiculed Robert Coffman, saying he was too old to keep up, that he made too much money and that he should quit.

Employee can’t claim constructive discharge on what might happen in workplace

02/12/2010

Some employees try to fabricate a lawsuit by resigning and then alleging that some form of discrimination made their working conditions so intolerable that they had no choice but to quit. The name of this claim: constructive discharge. Fortunately for employers, it takes more than a few isolated comments to create intolerable conditions. And, as the following case shows, the fear that working conditions will become intolerable isn’t enough to justify quitting before things get bad at work.

Do we have to pay bonuses to employees who quit before the normal payout date?

01/27/2010

Q. Our company pays out bonuses in the year after the work is completed, sometimes late into the first quarter. If an employee resigns before the bonus payout date (say, in February), do we have to pay a bonus to that employee?

OK to suggest retiring in lieu of getting fired: It’s not age discrimination

01/25/2010

Employees who claim they have experienced age discrimination must prove that age was the reason for an adverse employment action, such as termination or demotion. It’s not enough to show that a supervisor merely referred to the employee’s age. As the following case shows, merely suggesting retirement in lieu of discharge isn’t enough.