Brooks stands for the proposition that once the plaintiff has shown that the employee's activities were protected and were a substantial factor in the employer's decision, the burden shifts to defendant to show that the same decision would have been made if the employee had not engaged in the protected activity. Due to the manner in which the pattern jury instructions are worded, an affirmative answer to both requires a finding that an employee was wrongfully terminated and that the employer would have terminated the employee in any event. These answers are inherently inconsistent and are not an accurate representation of the standard established by Brooks . With the issues worded in this fashion, the termination becomes wrongful only when both issues are answered favorably to the employee. This more accurately reflects the standard established by Brooks .
Defendant brings forth several assignments of error as a cross-appeal.
Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion for a directed verdict at the close of plaintiff's evidence. The trial court should deny a motion for directed verdict when it finds there is any evidence more than a scintilla to support plaintiff's prima facie case in all its constituent elements. The evidence in the present case, taken in the light most favorable to plaintiff, established her prima facie case and warranted the issue going to the jury. Therefore, the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a directed verdict. We have reviewed defendant's remaining assignments of error and find them to be unpersuasive.