Thompson v. Medley Material Handling, Inc.
| Decision Date | 13 January 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 63273,63273 |
| Citation | 732 P.2d 461,1987 OK 2 |
| Parties | 106 Lab.Cas. P 55,700, 1 IER Cases 1318, 1987 OK 2 Richard THOMPSON, Appellant, v. MEDLEY MATERIAL HANDLING, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Ben A. Goff and Gloyd L. McCoy, Oklahoma City, for appellant.
Holloway, Dobson, Hudson and Bachman by A. Scott Johnson, Oklahoma City, for appellee.
Presented for consideration by this Court on writ of certiorari is the question of the proper burden of proof to be imposed on a plaintiff in a retaliatory discharge action under 85 O.S.1981 §§ 5, 6 and 7. 1
Appellant, Richard Thompson, initiated this action against appellee Medley Material Handling, Inc., alleging that appellee had wrongfully discharged Thompson from employment for the reason that Thompson had filed a Workers' Compensation claim against appellee. The material presented to the jury in this case indicates that Thompson was injured on the job on August 23, 1982. Thompson filed a claim for Workers' Compensation benefits for this injury. On December 6, 1982, appellee terminated Thompson's employment. Appellee presented evidence to establish that Thompson's termination had been part of a company-wide reduction in staff necessitated by a slow down in the oil industry:
Over Thompson's objection the trial court instructed the jury: 2
In a civil lawsuit, such as this one, there are requirements as to which party is to prove to you certain things. This is called, "burden of proof."
When I say that a party has the burden of proof on any proposition, or use the expression "if you find," or "if you decide," I mean you must be persuaded, considering all the evidence in the case, that the proposition on which such party has the burden of proof is more probably true than not true.
As applied to this case, you are instructed that the plaintiff has the burden of proof and must prove that the defendant, Medley Material Handling, Inc., terminated his employment for the sole reason that the plaintiff had filed a claim under the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Act.
The jury returned a verdict for appellee and Thompson appealed the judgment rendered on that verdict. The Court of Appeals, Oklahoma City Divisions, affirmed the trial court judgment by Order. Thompson then petitioned this Court for writ of certiorari to obtain review of this case. We have previously granted the requested writ.
One question is presented for review by the petition for certiorari; that is whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury that Thompson had the burden of proving that the sole reason for his discharge was retaliation for exercising his rights under the Workers' Compensation Act. We find that the instruction was erroneous.
The statute creating the cause of action for retaliatory discharge, 85 O.S.1981 § 5, provides that an employee may not be discharged because of the exercise of rights under the Workers' Compensation Act. If retaliation plays a significant part in an employer's decision to place an employee among a list of those to be laid off for economic reasons, that employee has been discharged because of the exercise of rights granted under statute. We hold that when retaliatory motivations comprise a significant factor in an employer's decision to terminate an employee, even though other legitimate reasons exist to justify the termination, the discharge violates the intent of section 5. 3
The import of 85 O.S.1981 § 6, 4 is to place upon the plaintiff in a retaliatory discharge case the burden of proving that retaliation for the exercise of rights granted under the Workers' Compensation Act played a significant part in the employer's decision to terminate that plaintiff.
On appeal appellee has argued that, regardless of error in the instructions, the evidence presented by Thompson fails to present a prima facie case of discriminatory discharge and that a directed verdict should have been entered for appellee. Appellee argues that the evidence, when taken in the light most favorable to Thompson, fails to establish that the filing of the Workers' Compensation claim had any effect upon appellees' decision to terminate Thompson. We are compelled to agree.
Although the evidence relied upon to prove wrongful discharge must, in most cases, of necessity be circumstantial in nature, that evidence must have sufficient probative value to constitute the basis for a legal inference rather than mere speculation, and the circumstances proved must lead to the conclusion with reasonable certainty and probability. 5 Thus the evidence required to be offered by Thompson in this case would have to establish circumstances which would give rise to a legal inference that his discharge was significantly motivated by retaliation for his exercise of statutory rights.
Thompson's testimony can be summarized as stating that he suffered a compensable back injury in August. He was subsequently off work for the next month during which time he received his pay. When he resumed work the back injury interfered with the performance of his job which was long haul trucking. His inability to perform his job led to a dispute with his supervisors. Thompson characterizes the dispute as harassment in an attempt to either drive him off, or to force him to perform his job, or to take a cut in pay. When Thompson requested written confirmation of what appellee wanted to do with him, he was offered a letter which stated two options. The first allowed him to work as a short haul truck driver, the second as a light truck driver with building maintenance duties. The second option included a reduction in pay. Both options stated that the duties were to last for six weeks and that the options were offered in response to reports from Thompson's physicians. Contemporaneously with the request for the written document Thompson filed an action in the Workers' Compensation Court. He testified that the supervisors' attitude then worsened. Approximately six weeks later Thompson was laid off and was told that the reason was lack of work. Thompson subsequently filed an application for unemployment compensation which reflected that he had been laid off for lack of work. Thompson testified that he had subsequently seen a person employed as a mechanic performing his old duties as a long haul trucker, and that this mechanic had at one time quit and had come back subsequent to Thompson's employment.
Taking this testimony in the light most favorable to Thompson it fails to do anymore to connect his termination to the filing of the Workers' Compensation claim than to establish that the two events happened approximately six weeks apart. He does not even allege that his supervisors or others at any time made any reference regarding termination as a result of bringing the Workers' Compensation action. 6 From the evidence presented nothing can be legally inferred. The reasons for Thompson's discharge, other than those stated by appellee, could only be deduced by pure speculation. Such evidence could not support the presentation of the matter to a jury. 7 To hold otherwise would be to require any employer laying off a worker who has at any time in the past filed a Workers' Compensation action to submit to a jury trial based purely on the coincidence of the layoff and the past filing.
Because we find in this case that the evidence here should not have been submitted to the jury and that a verdict should have been directed for appellee we find no prejudice to Thompson resulting from the erroneous instruction. 8 Accordingly, the Order of the Court of Appeals, Oklahoma City Divisions, is VACATED. The judgment of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
I concur in Part I of the Court's opinion. If retaliation plays a significant part in an employer's decision to place an employee among a list of those to be laid off for economic reasons, that employee has been discharged because of the exercise of rights granted under 85 O.S.1981 § 5.
I, however, disagree with the majority's conclusion that the evidence taken in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, here Thompson, fails to establish a prima facie showing of retaliatory discharge, but rather concludes that Thompson's claim for worker's compensation benefits had no effect upon the decision to terminate Thompson's employment. Upon a prima facie showing, it was within the province of the jury to decide the propriety of the evidence presented. The trial court thus did not...
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