The institution of the resignation of a shareholder from the company is an extraordinary instrument to protect a minority shareholder of a simple joint-stock company from unethical and discriminatory actions by the company itself or by shareholders controlling the company that permanently and seriously infringe on his interests. Thus, it is an institution provided for particularly drastic cases. The resignation of a shareholder from the company should not be seen as a universal solution to the problem of being a "prisoner of the company" – that is, a general, generally available alternative to the disposal of shares of a non-public company in the absence of a liquid market for its shares. The purpose of this article is to solve the problem of the scope of application of the institution in question, advocating a narrow view of it.