Texas employee changes LinkedIn status to "Open to Work," now seeks legal protection after boss treats his social media post as a resignation letter

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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  A young professional looks disappointed as he reads emails on his computer.

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Souvik Banerjee

  A phone open to the LinkedIn app

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
• 
  via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

  A young professional looks disappointed as he reads emails on his computer.

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

• 
  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Greg Bulla

  A window with the LinkedIn logo.

  _{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}

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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409

• While we empathize with the employee's struggles, it's hard not to wonder why he had not considered the consequences of his actions. As several members of this online community pointed out, he does not have much of a case here, considering he is in an at-will employment agreement. However, one thing he does have going for him is that when he files for unemployment, he can claim that it was a termination and not a voluntary departure. If his former employer takes any issue with that, the author will have receipts that should work in his favor.

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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409
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  via Few-Childhood8409

• Now, it has to be stated that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this employee seeking new employment opportunities via the means of LinkedIn. Plenty of employed people are doing that as we speak, but they are being far more discreet about it. One has to wonder if the employee was embittered after his ongoing compensation negotiations were not going according to plan, and then was not thinking things through when he proceeded to post online about his desire to work at a different company. 

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