Show Me Blawgs
Slanted news, views and rants on Missouri legal scene from the John Ashcroft Institute for Constitutional Studies


Name: stan_sipple

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Medical publisher fired a proof-reader after he informed the company he intended to take leave to care for his sick wife who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ("ALS" or "Lou Gehrig's disease) sued his employer under the Missouri Human Rights Act . Trial court gave summary judgment to employer finding no discrimination when the employer terminated the plaintiff after he stated his intention to take leave to care for his spouse. Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District reverses, holding the Missouri Human Rights Act scope was wider than comparable federal provisions and any connection between the employee's firing and his association with a disabled person, in this case his spouse, prevent employer's summary judgment. Randall Francin, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. Mosby, Inc., d/b/a Elsevier, Defendant/Respondent: ED89814 "Here, section 213.070(4) of the Missouri Human Rights Act provides that it is unlawful to "discriminate in any manner against any other person because of such person's association with any person protected by this chapter." The MHRA is broader than the Americans with Disabilities act. Section 213.070(4) does not qualify this discrimination with any requirement that an employee actually take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, as Elsevier attempts to argue. Instead, the statute merely provides a cause of action where an employee is discriminated against for his association with a person protected by the MHRA. Francin claims Elsevier discriminated against him by terminating him because of his association with his wife, who suffered from ALS. Francin presented a cognizable claim for discrimination under section 213.070(4), and Elsevier's argument is without merit.

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