If an employer wants a resignation to stand, its actions must be consistent with that

Most readers of this column will have learned that an employer cannot seize on such a “resignation” with alacrity or rely upon it in any way.

Similarly, an employee who resigns in anger in the heat of the moment is allowed by the courts a reasonable amount of time to calm down, change their mind and rescind the resignation.

A quick letter from the employer accepting the resignation or even using it to swiftly hire a replacement changes nothing.

What if an employee resigns in frustration and goes on disability leave yet never officially advises the employer of their intentions?

Such was the case in Denton v. Parriwi Management Inc., involving a forty-eight-year-old employee who started as an apprentice mechanic and worked his way up to service manager of the company’s repair shop, supervising 15 employees and earning a salary of $178,000.

One day, with tensions high over COVID-19, the supervisor (and eventual plaintiff) walked into a room during an argument between his manager and another employee. The argument concluded with the employee finally stating, “I’m done“ and walking out — at which point the manager redirected his wrath to the supervisor, who responded by saying, “I’m also done,“ before walking out himself.

By then, the supervisor was already feeling fragile, having had to lay off half his workforce because of the pandemic. The laid-off employees were almost like family, as he had worked closely with them for many years. He had also recently lost his father and, on one occasion, had a breakdown in the office and been granted a week off.

Concerned about losing him, another senior executive quickly reached out saying, “Don’t throw your career away. We know we have a problem. We want to help you,” and apologized for how he had been spoken to. The supervisor’s boss, who had been so hard on him, also texted an apology that night.

The supervisor responded to these texts stating that he felt like a failure and was embarrassed and ashamed. His boss replied that he was welcome back anytime. “Take a break and get better.”

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A couple of months later, the boss again texted to ask the supervisor how he was doing and, when the supervisor told him he was having difficulties, the boss said that he was “in everyone’s thoughts.”

The supervisor received short-term disability (STD) benefits but was denied long-term disability (LTD). When the LTD carrier wrote to his employer, the employer scuttled the LTD application by advising that it had seen no decline in his ability to perform his duties.

Once off work, the supervisor began experiencing a host of medical issues, including the discovery of a tumour that had to be removed, leaving other residual problems.

He never explicitly rescinded his resignation or stated that he intended to return to work.

One day, four months after he had walked off the job, the supervisor received a letter accepting his “resignation“ four months earlier.

Up until the date of the trial, nearly five years later, the supervisor had not looked for other work. His health did not permit it.

The case came before the King’s Bench for Saskatchewan, where the court found that the supervisor did not resign but was fired, either when he received the letter accepting his resignation or when his employer scuttled his application for LTD. The latter finding — that an employer hindering an employee’s LTD application constitutes a dismissal — is one I have never seen before and could be significant in many cases going forward.

Despite the supervisor’s relative youth and non-executive status, the court awarded him 24 months’ notice. Until two or three years ago, 24 months was only given in exceptional cases, but that amount, and more, has since become mainstream.

The supervisor’s claim for punitive and other damages was denied, however, as the court found that the company’s conduct, albeit clumsy, was not malicious.

If the company had not reached out to the supervisor to apologize and let him know he was welcome back, the outcome might well have been different. It did not act as if it believed the relationship was actually over. If an employer wants a resignation to stand, its actions must be consistent with that. The onus will then be on the employee to rescind their resignation relatively quickly.