constructive discharge

Definition

When an employer makes working conditions so intolerable that an employee is forced to resign, legally equivalent to being fired. The corporate version of 'I'm not touching you' until someone quits.

Example Usage

After they moved my desk to the basement with no windows, my lawyer said I had a strong constructive discharge case.

Origin

Legal doctrine developed through case law in the 1970s-1980s

Fun Fact

To prove constructive discharge, employees must show conditions were so unbearable that a reasonable person would have felt compelled to resign.

Source: Employment law and litigation terminology

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