This is talking about things that sound awfully close to constructive dismissal. The basic idea is to claim that the victim chose to quit, and was not fired. I

This is talking about things that sound awfully close to constructive dismissal. The basic idea is to claim that the victim chose to quit, and was not fired. It’s not just done in layoffs (see twitters recent “if you don’t accept grossly changed working conditions we interpret that as resignation”) it’s also used in retaliation. Claiming that they quit is as I understand it a violation of US labor law. Note that while much employment in the US is considered “at will”that does not mean you can be fired for any reason. Plenty of reasons are illegal, and constructive dismissal is just another illegal tactic companies use to try and avoid consequences of illegal actions. If you’re ever in a position where your employer says anything along the lines of “we will take [failure to] X as indicating you are resigning”, that’s illegal and also set up a paper trail explicitly stating that you are not resigning. Your employer is not your friend. Your employer is not your family. HR is not on your side. Ever. The sole goal of HR is to minimize corporate liability.