By Mitchell Riese and Mathias M. Deeg
In Williams v. Alabama Dep’t. of Corrections, the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit determined that a Corrections Officer’s resignation could not be considered an adverse employment action on the part of his employer if he was provided with reasonable alternatives to resignation. The Court found the employer’s offer to hold a formal hearing at which the Officer could tell his side of the story to be a sufficient alternative to immediate resignation.
Orlando Williams served as a Correctional Officer for the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) from 2005 until his resignation in 2011. Williams received multiple warnings during his employment for failure to follow department policy, resulting in multiple suspensions. In November 2010, after declining a request by Williams for shorter shifts, ADOC notified him that in the event there were no vacant non-security positions to which to transfer him, Williams might be terminated. On July 22, 2011, ADOC sent Williams a memo detailing his recent violations of department policy, notifying him of a “pre-dismissal conference” on August 22 at which he could tell his side of the story, and informing him of his right to voluntarily resign in lieu of termination. Williams did not appear at the pre-dismissal conference, and on September 16 submitted his resignation. Williams then filed suit alleging disability discrimination on the part of ADOC.
To establish disability discrimination under the ADA, plaintiffs must show they are disabled, are qualified for the position at hand, and were discriminated against because of that disability. A necessary component of discrimination is adverse employment action taken against the employee; in other words, they must suffer some tangible negative consequence as a result of their disability.
Because Williams did not argue that his past warnings or suspensions were a result of discrimination against his disability, the Court concerned itself only with whether his resignation constituted an adverse employment action by ADOC. Courts will presume that employee resignations are voluntary unless their employer causes the resignation through coercion, duress, or misrepresentation. In determining the nature of an employee’s resignation, the 11th Circuit considers a number of factors:
[W]e consider whether: (1) the employee was given an alternative to resignation; (2) the employee understood the nature of the choice he was given; (3) the employee was given a reasonable time in which to choose; (4) the employee was permitted to select the effective date of the resignation; and (5) the employee had the advice of counsel. A resignation may be voluntary even when the only alternative is possible termination for cause.
The Court found an alternative to resignation was present, and thus Williams’ choice to forego the pre-dismissal conference in favor of resigning meant his resignation was voluntary. As a result, the Court held that no adverse employment action occurred and Williams could not bring a claim of disability discrimination.
This decision reinforces the point that it is generally more difficult to bring a discrimination lawsuit against an employer if the employee has quit rather than be fired. While an employee is not necessarily precluded from bringing a claim if he or she has quit, the employee must generally prove that he or she was “constructively terminated,” meaning that the employer made working conditions so bad for the employee that any reasonable person would have resigned. The employee in this case could not show that.
