High Court Overturns Causation Standard for Wrongful Firing Claims

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled en banc on Tuesday that an employer's discriminatory animus does not need to be the exclusive cause of the employer's decision to terminate an injured worker for the worker to prevail on a wrongful discharge action, overturning 30 years of case law.It is enough that the worker's act of pursuing comp benefits was a "contributing factor" to the employer's decision, the court said. Case: Templemire v. W & M Welding, No. SC93132, 04/15/2014, published. Facts: John Templemire had worked as a painter and general laborer for  W &...