FWC: Feeling forced to resign is not enough

An employee who has resigned from their employment may be deemed dismissed if their employer's conduct forced them to resign.

In the recent case of Karynne Thomas v Greenmeadows Medical Practice, the Fair Work Commission held that even if an employee genuinely *feels forced* to resign, this will be insufficient if they were not *actually forced* to resign.

Applicant Ms Thomas was employed as a Registered Nurse by Respondent Greenmeadows.

From December 2024 through August 2025, Ms Thomas raised various patient safety and care concerns with her employer.

The concerns were addressed by the practice and, where appropriate, the doctors with responsibility for patients in relation to whom Ms Thomas held concerns. Ms Thomas was unsatisfied with the response of the practice/doctors and continued to hold concerns about patient safety and care. As a result, Ms Thomas formed the view that she had no choice but to resign, which she did on 28 August 2025.

Ms Thomas argued that she had been unfairly dismissed. A threshold question for the Commission was whether Ms Thomas was dismissed at all - if she was not dismissed, she cannot have been unfairly dismissed. An employee may be found to have been dismissed even if they resign, provided they establish they were forced to do so.

The Commission was satisfied that Ms Thomas "genuinely felt like she had no option other than [to resign]" including because she had "lost all hope that her [patient safety] concerns would be addressed." However, the Commission found that the actions of Ms Thomas' employer had not forced her to resign. It formed the view for two reasons.

Firstly, the Commission was satisfied that even if the employer had engaged in the conduct alleged by Ms Thomas, giving rise to her patient care concerns, it did not do so with the *intent* of forcing her Ms Thomas to resign: "it cannot seriously be suggested that [doctors at the practice] would disregard their extensive professional obligations to pursue a strategy of [forcing Ms Thomas] to resign."

Secondly, regardless of intent, the Commission was not satisfied that resignation was the probable result of the actions of Ms Thomas' employer, including because she had a number of alternatives available to her: "Ms Thomas could have sought assistance from her union, requested a formal meeting focused solely on her concerns, taken personal leave if she felt too unwell to attend the workplace, raised her concerns externally with a regulator, and/or sought anti-bullying orders. Ms Thomas did not pursue any of these alternatives."

There being no intention to force resignation, nor conduct that had the effect of forcing resignation, Ms Thomas was not found to have been dismissed.

Takeaway: Even a genuine feeling of being forced to resign is not enough to establish constructive dismissal. An employee must actually be forced to resign by the conduct of an employer, as a matter of fact.

The focus is the conduct, not the feeling it elicits.