Employer – Employee: Retaliatory Discharge – Instructions – Work Comp Claim

Where a plaintiff, who brought a claim of retaliatory discharge against his employer, argued that he was entitled to relief if he showed that his workers’ compensation claim was a contributing factor in his discharge, the trial court did not improperly instruct the jury when it required them to find that the work comp claim was the exclusive cause of his discharge, and although a pretext instruction might have been beneficial, the court did not err in refusing the instruction.

Judgment is affirmed.

Templemire v. W&M Welding, Inc. (MLW No. 64499/Case No. WD74681 – 13 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Mitchell, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Pettis County, Koffman, J. (Gene P. Graham and Bryan White, Independence, for appellant) (James T. Buckley, Sedalia, for respondent).

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