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If you are enduring sexual harassment or retaliation, you may eventually feel forced to resign
because of it is too hard to continuing working for your employer. If you decide to resign due to
an intolerable work environment, you should consider giving your employer a resignation letter
explaining why you have to quit.
In your resignation letter, it is important to explain 1) what was happening at work to make you
have to quit and 2) what you did to try to x the situation before you nally quit.
Try to be as specic as possible and include details like who you reported the sexual harassment
to, when you reported it, and what the response to your complaint was. It is also important to
state anything you did to try to deal with the harassment. Be sure to describe any harassment that
happened after you reported, including who the harasser was, what happened, when it happened,
and where it happened. If anyone has mistreated you or retaliated against you after you reported,
include specic information about who was involved, what happened, when it happened (even
approximately), and where it happened.
Do not forget to keep a copy of your resignation letter!
The Sample Resignation Letter After Harassment and the Sample Resignation Letter After
Retaliation are ll-in-the-blank examples of resignation letters to your employer. There are also
two example letters. The rst example uses the rst Sample Letter to explain that the employee is
resigning because of unaddressed sexual harassment, and the second example uses the second
Sample Letter to explain that the employee is resigning because she was retaliated against after
her report of sexual harassment.
Sample Employer Notification Letter 3:
Resigning From Your Job
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1) Who are you now writing your resignation letter to? ______________________________________
2) What is your position?_____________________________________________________________________
3) What is the name of your employer? ______________________________________________________
4) When are you resigning? __________________________________________________________________
Your Resignation
Use this worksheet if you are resigning because of continued harassment. First, answer
these questions to collect the information that you should include in your
letter to your employer. Next, you will use your answers to ll in the letter on the
following pages.
5) When did you rst complain?______________________________________________________________
6) Who did you originally complain to? ______________________________________________________
7) What is your harasser’s name? ____________________________________________________________
8) How did the person to whom you originally complained respond? Describe any promises
to investigate the harassment or provide accommodations. Describe any unacceptable
responses, such as victim-blaming comments, telling you to “work it out” with the harasser,
or saying the company couldn’t do anything.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your Harassment Complaint
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9) How have you tried to x the problem? Describe any steps you have taken to resolve the
situation, such as ling a complaint with your employer, participating in your employer’s
investigation, etc. It is ok if you have not yet told your harasser to stop. However, if you have,
that information is important.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Did you have any further conversations with your employer about the harassment?
YES NO
10) If no, please go to the next section. If yes, please describe what happened. Describe
any promises to investigate the harassment or provide accommodations. Describe any
unacceptable responses, such as victim-blaming comments, telling you to “work it out” with
the harasser, or saying the company couldn’t do anything.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
11) How has the harassment made you feel? (For example: scared, embarrassed or humiliated).
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your Response to the Harassment
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To #1 Name of Human Resources director, supervisor, program director, or other manager:
I am resigning from my position as #2 Name of Position for #3 Name of employer eective #4
Date you are resigning.
Re: Resignation
Today’s date
Using your answers to the questions above, write your letter using this template. When you see
blue italicized text, replace it with the answers you wrote.
Resignation Letter After Harassment
Sample Letter 3A:
On or around #5 Date that you reported the harassment (or your best estimate), I notied
#6 Name of the company employee you reported the harassment to [in person/by email/by
phone] that I was sexually harassed by #7 Harasser’s Name(s).
#6 Name of the company employee you reported the harassment to told me that #8 Describe
the response of the person you reported to, including any promises to x the problem and any
negative responses.
Since then, I have attempted to resolve the situation by #9 Describe any steps you have taken
to try to x the situation.
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Even though I reported the harassment, #7 Harasser’s Name(s) continues to harass me.
#10 Describe any further conversations you had with your employer about the continued
harassment.
The harassment makes me feel #11 Describe how the harassment made you feel. For
example: “scared,” “embarrassed,” or “humiliated.” Due to this harassment and #3 Name
of employer’s failure to promptly correct and remedy the harassment and prevent its
recurrence as California law requires, I feel forced to quit.
[Include the last paragraph if you are afraid your employer will retaliate against you by giving you
a bad reference:]
It is illegal under California law for an employer to retaliate against an employee by
providing a poor reference or otherwise harming an employee’s reputation or prospects for
new work. An employer, and its employees, may not make false statements about a former
employee to prevent the former employee’s reemployment; suggesting through innuendo,
omitting positive facts, making false statements, or reporting rumor all could be grounds for
legal liability.
If contacted, please only disclose my former job title and dates of employment.
Sincerely,
Your name
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Re: Resignation
August 30, 2019
To Human Resources Director:
I am resigning from my position as shelving clerk for XYZ Stores eective September 1, 2019.
On or around July 10, 2019, I notied my supervisor, Jose D., in person that I was sexually
harassed by Charlie T. and David S.
Jose D. told me that he would make sure that I did not have any shifts with Charlie T. and
David S. He also told me that it was ultimately my responsibility to work it out with Charlie
T. and David S.
Since then, I have attempted to resolve the situation by ling a complaint with Human
Resources on July 20, 2019.
Even though I reported the harassment, Charlie T. and David S. continue to harass me. I told my
supervisor two weeks ago that Charlie T. threatened me in the parking lot, and my
supervisor said that it was not his problem.
The harassment makes me feel unsafe, scared, and humiliated. Due to this harassment and
Resignation Letter After Harassment
Example Letter 3A:
This is an example of a completed resignation letter because of harassment and retaliation.
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XYZ Stores’ failure to promptly correct and remedy the harassment and prevent its recurrence as
California law requires, I feel forced to quit.
It is illegal under California law for an employer to retaliate against an employee by providing a
poor reference or otherwise harming an employee’s reputation or prospects for new work. An
employer, and its employees, may not make false statements about a former employee to prevent
the former employee’s reemployment; suggesting through innuendo, omitting positive facts,
making false statements, or reporting rumor all could be grounds for legal liability.
If contacted, please only disclose my former job title and dates of employment.
Sincerely,
Rosa B.
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1) Who are you now writing your resignation letter to? ______________________________________
2) What is your position?_____________________________________________________________________
3) What is the name of your employer? ______________________________________________________
4) When are you resigning? __________________________________________________________________
Your Resignation
5) When did you rst complain?______________________________________________________________
6) Who did you originally complain to? ______________________________________________________
7) What is your harasser’s name? ____________________________________________________________
8) How did the person to whom you originally complained respond? Describe any promises
to investigate the harassment or provide accommodations. Describe any unacceptable
responses, such as victim-blaming comments, telling you to “work it out” with the harasser,
or saying the company couldn’t do anything.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your Harassment Complaint
Use this worksheet if you are resigning because of harassment and retaliation. First,
answer these questions to collect the information that you should include in your
letter to your employer. Next, you will use your answers to ll in the letter on the
following pages.
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In this section, you will describe any retaliation you have experienced since you complained
about the harassment. Please be as specic as possible about what happened and when it
happened. For an explanation of retaliation, see page 13.
10) Describe what happened. Who retaliated against you? What did they say or do? (For
example: “My supervisor reduced my number of shifts per month from 10 to 2;” “I was
issued a performance warning two days after I reported the sexual harassment;” or
“[Harasser’s name] told our co-workers that I’m a ‘slut,’ that I’m ‘just bitter’ and that HR
needed to look into ‘my oce relationships.’”)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
11) When did this happen? Did it happen once, more than once, or often? Do you remember
the date or approximate date(s) that it happened?
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Retaliation
9) How have you tried to x the problem? Describe any steps you have taken to resolve the
situation, such as ling a complaint with your employer, participating in your employer’s
investigation, etc.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
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12) How has the harassment made you feel? (For example: scared, embarrassed or humiliated).
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your Response to the Harassment
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To #1 Name of Human Resources director, supervisor, program director, or other manager:
I am resigning from my position as #2 Name of Position for #3 Name of employer eective #4
Date you are resigning.
Re: Resignation
Today’s date
Using your answers to the questions above, write your letter using this template. When you see
blue italicized text, replace it with the answers you wrote.
Resignation Letter After Harassment
Sample Letter 3B:
On or around #5 Date that you reported the harassment (or your best estimate), I notied
#6 Name of the company employee you reported the harassment to [in person/by email/by
phone] that I was sexually harassed by #7 Harasser’s Name(s).
#6 Name of the company employee you reported the harassment to told me that #8 Describe
the response of the person you reported to, including any promises to x the problem and any
negative responses.
Since then, I have attempted to resolve the situation by #9 Describe any steps you have taken
to try to x the situation.
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The harassment makes me feel #12 Describe how the harassment made you feel. Due to this
harassment and illegal retaliation, I feel forced to quit.
It is illegal under California law for an employer to retaliate against an employee by
providing a poor reference or otherwise harming an employee’s reputation or prospects for
new work. An employer, and its employees, may not make false statements about a former
employee to prevent the former employee’s reemployment; suggesting through innuendo,
omitting positive facts, making false statements, or reporting rumor all could be grounds for
legal liability.
If contacted, please only disclose my former job title and dates of employment.
Sincerely,
Your name
I was subjected to retaliation for my sexual harassment complaint even though under
California law, it is unlawful for an employer to retaliate or discriminate against an employee
for reporting sexual harassment. On or around #11 Date that retaliation occurred, #10
Describe the retaliation, including who retaliated against you, what they did, and when they
did it.
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Re: Resignation
August 30, 2019
To Human Resources Director:
I am resigning from my position as shelving clerk for XYZ Stores eective September 1, 2019.
On or around July 10, 2019, I notied my supervisor, Jose D., in person that I was sexually
harassed by Charlie T. and David S.
Jose D. told me that he would make sure that I did not have any shifts with Charlie T. and
David S. He also told me that it was ultimately my responsibility to work it out with Charlie
T. and David S.
Since then, I have attempted to resolve the situation by ling a complaint with Human
Resources on July 20, 2019.
I was subjected to retaliation for my sexual harassment complaint even though under California
law, it is unlawful for an employer to retaliate or discriminate against an employee for reporting
sexual harassment. On or around July 22, 2019, Human Resources said that I could not come
in to work for a week while they investigated my complaint against Charlie T. and David S.
XYZ Stores did not pay me during the week they forced me to take o. When I returned
Resignation Letter After Retaliation
Example Letter 3B:
This is an example of a completed resignation letter because of harassment and retaliation.
69
on July 29, 2019, my supervisor, Jose D., said that he had to cut my shifts from 6 per week
to 3 per week to make sure that I did not work with Charlie T. and David S.. Jose D. did not
cut Charlie T. and David S.’s shifts to make sure that we do not overlap, only mine. At least
three times since I have been back at work, Jose D. has made comments about me and my
sexual history. He said that I am “loose” and that he did not know why Charlie T. and David
S. would be interested in having sex with me anyway.
The retaliation makes me feel uncomfortable, and I have nightmares every night before going
to work. I feel like XYZ Stores cares more about Charlie T. and David S. than they do about
me. Due to this harassment and illegal retaliation, I feel forced to quit.
It is illegal under California law for an employer to retaliate against an employee by providing a
poor reference or otherwise harming an employee’s reputation or prospects for new work. An
employer, and its employees, may not make false statements about a former employee to prevent
the former employee’s reemployment; suggesting through innuendo, omitting positive facts,
making false statements, or reporting rumor all could be grounds for legal liability.
If contacted, please only disclose my former job title and dates of employment.
Sincerely,
Rosa B.
