This is not legal advice, and I am not an attorney, much less an employment law attorney. For professional advice, contact… well, a professional.
Once, there was a woman named Sonia. Sonia was bright and attractive, professional in her work as an accountant for a nationally recognized Long Island public school system, and she enjoyed a nice working relationship with her co-workers. The Board seemed to enjoy her quarterly and annual presentations, which she conducted with a bit of dry humor so as not to bore them to tears.
One day, Sonia noticed a pile of receipts for the district’s Home Depot credit card signed by Pamela, the superintendent. This was not unusual in itself, though the Head of Maintenance usually signed them. The superintendent certainly had the right to authorize small repairs. What was unusual was what was on them.
1) Crown molding installed – $8,400.62
2) Kohler Whirlpool – 60″ Biscuit – $1835.00 (sale)
3) 3 Gallons Benjamin Moore Tint Base (Misty Mauve) – $92.00
“Misty Mauve? What the hell in this school is Misty Mauve?” thought Sonia. And the modernist Bauhaus 1952 school building didn’t have crown molding anywhere, much less a wee jacuzzi. She decided to look back further. There were closet systems, bathroom cabinets, a granite countertop, a high end washer and dryer, and numerous labor charges to install them all. All the receipts were signed by Pamela.
She liked Pamela, and was sure there… Well, no. Actually, Sonia wasn’t sure of anything. So, she decided to ask. She was going to have to present these expenses at the Board Meeting anyway. She visited Pamela’s office.
It did not go well. Pamela initially denied any knowledge of the expenses, until Sonia produced the reciepts and the Home Depot bills. Then Pamela’s eyes narrowed. In her doughy face, they looked like chips of dirty ice, and Sonia physically backed away from her desk. “Move it somewhere else,” Pamela said.
“What?!” Sonia gasped.
“You heard me. I’ve been with the district for 20 years. This is part of my bonus. Put it under Miscellaneous,” Pamela said.
Sonia was outraged: “You made over $400,000.00 last year!”
“Get with the program. This is how it works here, and if you want to move ahead, you’ll do as I say.”
“I will do no such thing.” Sonia snapped.
Pamela’s smirk was pure evil. “Suit yourself.”
Shortly after that, it began. Budget meetings took place without her being invited. Some of her colleagues shunned her, leaving some others puzzled. A Board member took her to task over a harmless error on a reconciliation sheet, leaving her in tears. Her assistant was clearly being groomed to take her place. And at the next Board Meeting, her presentation was limited to 10 minutes, down from the usual hour. By this point Sonia was so demoralized she dreaded coming to work and the trek down to her office in Administration had become a daily death march. But she decided to Do The Deed. She prepared a meticulously documented report of Pamela’s embezzlement, even going so far as to show the Home Depot items being delivered to Pamela’s home. She approached the Board Chairman with her findings.
Without opening it, he slid the binder containing the report back across his desk to her and advised her to work on more pressing matters. And the abuse escalated. Sonia’s car was keyed – her first new car, ever. Pamela would pass her in the hall, smile, and then hiss obscenities at her in a whisper when no one else could hear. Files went missing from her office, prompting her to back up each day’s work on a second server and a flash drive. Her assistant was approved for a CPA program without her knowledge or approval, with a study concentration in Academic Finance.
Sonia began to get migraines at the end of each day, have nightmares, insomnia and had lost her appetite. Her fiance, her mother, her friends – all of them urged her to go to the newspapers with the story. But Sonia was so miserable and depressed at this point that it was all she could do to function. And she was scared. What if this made her unemployable?
One morning in the shower, she felt water around her ankles. The drain was clogged. Because her hair was falling out. Sonia slid to the floor of the shower and cried until there was nothing left. And, that was it.
Sonia tendered her resignation that day, with a short note discussing stress, her inability to do her job because of harassment, and corruption in the school district. She consulted a lawyer, who compiled all the facts and prepared a second note stating that Sonia’s resignation was both involuntary resignation and constructive termination, and that further action would be forthcoming. And next came the press release, with the report – audited by an outside firm – going to the press.
The Pamela who was led out of the Nassau County Courthouse in cuffs was a very different Pamela from the one who had smirkingly caused her so much misery. There was some satisfaction in that. And the settlement that Sonia received was nice, but it didn’t make up for the months she had lost.
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Involuntary resignation basically involves an employee who resigns because his employer has made his professional life so impossible or unbearable that he has no choice but to quit. Typical tactics include marginalizing the employee, reducing job functions, low-grade and unprovable harassment, hostility and treating the employee differently from other employees in a similar function. It is important to document everything, abide by the employee handbook, and continue to work until you quit. It is also important to consult an attorney. I did some but not all of these things and am on somewhat shaky legal ground.
An excellent overview for people in this situation is here: http://www.timslaw.com/constructive-discharge.htm
More about job stress and depression here: http://www.timslaw.com/mental-health.htm
As many of you know, I have been dealing with this firsthand and I can tell you it is not fun. I recommend that you have another job before you quit. But if your health is being impacted, that comes first. Document it all, and take care of YOU. They couldn’t care less about you.