An employee diagnosed with depression blurted out he was resigning. When he retracted his resignation, the employer refused to allow it and marked the employee as having resigned. The MCAD ruled the denial of the request to retract the resignation was an adverse employment action motivated by disability and held the employer liable for handicap discrimination.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT…The facts showed the employer knew the employee was clinically depressed. They also showed that some management members believed the resignation was just an emotional outburst. The MCAD found the employee to be protected and the employer to be liable because it did not reasonably accommodate the employee’s handicap.