Employee who resigned under pressure wins right to severance pay

GaziantepS.Y., who worked at a children's clothing store in a shopping mall in Gaziantep, resigned after being pressured by the regional manager, writing her resignation letter while in tears.

The woman, who initiated a legal battle to receive her severance pay, was initially ruled against by the Gaziantep 9th Labor Court.

In its reasoned decision announced on October 5, 2021, the court found that the payment of severance was not appropriate, arguing that the entire resignation letter was handwritten and that it could not be proven that the letter was obtained by force. S.Y. appealed the decision to a higher court and won her legal battle.

In the reasoned decision of the 14th Civil Chamber of the Gaziantep Regional Court of Justice, it was stated that according to witness testimonies, S.Y. had gone up to the terrace to speak with the regional manager, E.S.A., and that S.Y. had prepared the resignation letter after coming back down in tears.

"IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT THE RESIGNATION LETTER WAS SIGNED UNDER PRESSURE AND THREATS"

The decision noted that neutral public witnesses and other witnesses provided similar statements, confirming that it was understood the plaintiff had signed the resignation letter under pressure and threats.

The court stated that, considering the plaintiff had 4 years, 7 months, and 26 days of seniority, it would be contrary to the ordinary flow of life for her to terminate her employment contract through resignation without cause, and declared the resignation letter legally invalid.

Noting that according to high court precedents, the employment contract must be considered as having been unfairly terminated by the employer in such cases, the decision stated that for these reasons, the plaintiff was entitled to severance pay.

The chamber ruled that 12,056 Turkish Liras be paid to the employee, who had 4 years, 7 months, and 26 days of seniority, along with interest. The decision has thus become final.

"A FAIR AND EXCELLENT DECISION"

S.Y.'s lawyer, Abdulkadir Akıllar, stated that his client had written the resignation letter under duress.

Explaining that his client contacted him to seek her rights after leaving the job, Akıllar continued:

"My client said that she had not quit her job even after getting married, that she wanted to work, and that she could have resigned and received her severance pay due to marriage if she had wanted to, but did not. She stated that if she had not been forced to write a resignation letter, her career path would have remained open, and therefore she was a victim and wanted to file a lawsuit. Based on the sincerity of my client, we filed the case. In the subsequent stages, witness testimonies and camera footage confirmed that the regional manager walked toward my client in an angry manner, that there was an argument, and that she wrote the resignation letter while crying."

Recalling that the local court rejected their case on the grounds that "the right to severance pay could not be claimed" because the resignation letter was handwritten, Akıllar said: "Following this, we continued our legal struggle and appealed to the regional court by explaining all these justifications. The 14th Civil Chamber of the Gaziantep Regional Court of Justice gave a very fair and excellent decision. It overturned the local court's decision and ruled in favor of our severance claim, stating that the resignation written while crying was proven, that it was impossible for the resignation to be written voluntarily under these conditions, that her will was vitiated, and that she was therefore entitled to severance pay." he assessed.