Resign or Terminate? Should Employees Get to Choose?

Atlanta partner Jennifer Sandberg was interviewed for the article "Resign or Terminate? Should Employees Get to Choose?" in the August 2011 issue of Quinlan Employee Terminations Law Bulletin, a newsletter published by Thomson Reuters. The article noted the legal risks employers take when they allow an employee to resign instead of terminating them. Jennifer said that allowing employees to resign leaves employers vulnerable to lawsuits from both the employee in question and others. "Any employer that thinks they are reducing liability by allowing someone to resign is wrong. It just causes problems and confusion." As tempting as it is to ease the termination pain of well-liked employees, it is usually not worth the legal risk. "It's almost always going to be a bad idea. If something is termination-worthy, you should terminate."