No constructive discharge for psych exam requirement revoked years earlier

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all New Mexico employers) recently upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a surgeon against the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) for requiring him to undergo psychiatric evaluations, revoking the requirements, and allegedly constructively discharging him years later based on a perceived disability. The three-year-old request for medical examinations, which was withdrawn weeks later without any change in the doctor's terms of employment, didn't create a job environment a reasonable person would consider intolerable enough to constitute a constructive discharge. The 10th Circuit also upheld dismissal of his unlawful medical inquiry claim under the Rehabilitation Act because it was time-barred.

Constructive discharge

Dr. Dennis Rivero claimed UNMH's conduct in requiring a psychiatric exam and potential treatment was so offensive that it rendered his resignation a constructive discharge. A constructive discharge claim requires a showing that: (1) an employee was discriminated against by his employer to the point where a reasonable person in his position would have felt compelled to resign, and (2) he resigned. In other words, a former employee must show he had no other choice but to quit.