Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

My husband's employer wrote a letter stating that he would have a job with them regardless of locale (he telecommuted), then let him go for not moving.

He had telecommuted for several years (worked for them a total of 5 years) and had sent them a list of requirements to discuss what we would need to make a move (we were willing to consider it even though there were a great number of issues we would have to handle, such as the house we had just bought). They asserted that, because his requirements were "moronic and arrogant," they effectively served as his resignation (she kept asserting that they hadn't fired him, so he couldn't seek out unemployment).

Is this legal? Help, please!


Asked on 6/09/10, 3:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Susan Beecher Susan L. Beecher, Atty at Law

I would have to see the letter from the employer to know whether it constituted a contract and if so, what its terms are. If it did not (and I suspect it did not), the employer can let him go for declining to relocate. Unfair, yes. Very crudely done, yes. Illegal, probably not.

However, under the circumstances you post, he is absolutely entitled to unemployment compensation. In the first place, attempting to negotiate the terms of employment is not a resignation. In the second place, even if your husband did resign (I'm not saying he did), unemployment compensation is available to those who resign because the employer moved the job site an unreasonable distance away. (I don't recall the exact number of miles, but the law was designed to protect employees from having to commute an unreasonable distance. A move that would require relocation would certainly qualify.)

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Answered on 6/09/10, 8:58 pm


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