A recent decision from a state appellate court highlights how hard it is for an employee suing for constructive discharge to prove that they had no other option except for resigning.
Constructive discharge occurs when an employee resigns because the employer has created a hostile work environment. So, even though the employee may have technically resigned, the resignation is not considered truly voluntary under the law.
In the case of Armato v. Town of Stoneham, Richard Armato was a Department of Public Works employee who oversaw golf courses. Armato gave written and oral notice to his immediate supervisors of allegations by an elected town moderator who was also a golfer that four individuals were “cooking the books” of the golf courses. The town moderator later confronted Amato at the course, swearing at him and threatening to sue him if he wrote any other letters asserting allegations about the accounting at the courses.
Similar arguments continued on other occasions with the town moderator and other board members, often impeding Armato from doing his job. Eventually, a decision was made to privatize the golf courses. Armato was offered a transfer to other positions in the town, but he declined them and took early retirement.
Armato sued the town for constructive discharge under the Massachusetts public employee whistleblower statute, claiming that board members harassed him to an extent that he was left with no choice but to decline the transfer offers and retire...
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