"But I Didn't Mean It..."

By Larry Feheley

A recent Ohio appellate decision ruled that a "resignation is a resignation," regardless of the employee's mental capacity at the time. In the case of Escott v. Timken Co., 153 Ohio App. 3d 529 (Stark Co. 2003), the employee became angry over his supervisor's criticism and so he told the supervisor that he wanted to resign. The employee then went to the HR office and repeated that he was going to quit. He then packed his personal things, deleted items from his computer, turned in his company property, and participated in an exit interview. A few hours later, however, the employee had second thoughts and he went back into one of the company's medical offices. The medical office personnel refused to see him because he had resigned. He then sued the company, arguing that his resignation was invalid because he did not have the requisite mental capacity to tender a binding resignation. The appellate court disagreed, and ruled that an employee's mental capacity to understand the nature and consequences of his actions is not a prerequisite to the termination of an at-will employment relationship.