Escorting You Directly To Karma

(I work for a very large company and have just accepted a new job offer that is closer to home and pays more. I don’t start my new position for another month or so, but I still want to give my notice. While waiting for the right time to hand in my notice, another coworker hands her notice in and our manager has her immediately escorted out of the building by security in the middle of lunch hour. I go to the HR Director that I am familiar with to have a conversation about something unrelated, but I bring this situation up.)

Me: “Was [Coworker]’s leaving considered a termination or a resignation?”

HR Director: *quite shocked* “It was a resignation, of course! Why would you even ask that?”

Me: “I’ve never seen anyone immediately escorted out of a job after giving their two-weeks notice; that’s all.”

HR Director: “Well, it’s up to the manager to deal with it how they see fit.”

(Not happy about that answer, I decided to play the system, since I was leaving, anyway. Just before lunch on the Friday I decided would be my last, I walk into my manager’s office and handed in my notice. True to form, I was asked to pack up my desk, and then to be escorted out. As the security guards came up, I handed each one a box of my belongings and started walking to the elevators. They followed me to my car, through the cafeteria, the common rooms, and the main lobby while I smiled and waved at all the folks I knew. Apparently, the manager was reprimanded and is now no longer allowed to have people walked out of the building for resigning. I enjoyed a two-week paid vacation, while they figured out what to do with my workflows after I left.)