---
title: "Constructive Discharge"
type: Legal Term
source: https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/constructive-discharge
---

# Constructive Discharge

Constructive discharge occurs when an employer makes working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee's position would feel compelled to resign, effectively treating the resignation as an involuntary termination. The Supreme Court in Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders held that a constructive discharge claim requires the plaintiff to show conditions even more egregious than those required for a hostile work environment claim, and that if the resignation is precipitated by an official act of the employer (such as a humiliating demotion or drastic pay cut), the Faragher-Ellerth affirmative defense is unavailable. The employee bears the burden of proving that the conditions were objectively intolerable; mere dissatisfaction, personality conflicts, or general unhappiness with the job are insufficient. A successful constructive discharge claim entitles the plaintiff to the same remedies as a wrongful termination claim, including back pay and front pay.

## Related Terms

- wrongful-termination
- hostile-work-environment
- at-will-employment
- mitigation-of-damages

## Related Cases

- albemarle-paper-co-v-moody
- alexander-v-gardner-denver-co

## Example

An employee who resigns after her employer slashes her pay by 50%, reassigns her to a windowless storage closet, and strips her of all meaningful duties may claim constructive discharge because a reasonable person would have felt compelled to quit.

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Source: [Constructive Discharge — CaseBriefly](https://casebriefly.com/legal-terms/constructive-discharge)