09-1347 Chapin v. Fort-Rohr Motors, Inc.

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Employment
Retaliation; constructive discharge

Although a supervisor threatened to fire an employee if he didn’t withdraw an EEOC charge, the employee was not constructively discharged where the employer repeatedly assured him he was not terminated, even though he didn’t withdraw the charge.

“To find that one singular threat, followed by multiple reassurances that the employee has retained his job, was a constructive discharge is to lower the threshold of the ‘intolerable’ workplace so far as to be unrecognizable. A reasonable person in Chapin’s position would not have felt that he had no choice but to resign. No rational jury could have concluded that Fort-Rohr constructively discharged Chapin. Because there was no adverse action under either of the theories Chapin presented to the jury, Chapin’s retaliation claim under Title VII fails and we reverse the district court’s denial of Fort-Rohr’s motion for judgment as a matter of law.”

Reversed and Remanded.

09-1347 Chapin v. Fort-Rohr Motors, Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Springmann, J., Williams, J.