Opinion ID: 1924721
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Whether Claim is Supported by Substantial Evidence

Text: CEC contends that the trial court erred in denying its motions for a directed verdict and a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, because it says Mokrzycki's claim of retaliatory discharge is not supported by substantial evidence. In reviewing the trial court's denial of CEC's motions for a directed verdict and JNOV, we are bound by the same standard as the trial court. Ogle v. Long, 551 So.2d 914, 915 (Ala.1989). We must determine whether the party with the burden of proof has produced sufficient evidence of a conflict warranting a jury's consideration. Macon County Comm'n v. Sanders, 555 So.2d 1054, 1056 (Ala.1990); Bussey v. John Deere Co., 531 So.2d 860, 862 (Ala.1988). The evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to Mokrzycki, the nonmoving party. Twilley v. Daubert Coated Products, Inc., 536 So.2d 1364, 1367 (Ala. 1988); Wadsworth v. Yancey Bros. Co., 423 So.2d 1343, 1345 (Ala.1982). In Twilley, this Court set out the burden of proof necessary to establish a retaliatory discharge claim under Ala.Code 1975, § 25-5-11.1: We hold that an employee may establish a prima facie case of retaliatory discharge by proving that he was `terminated' because he sought to recover worker's compensation benefits, which would be an impermissible reason. The burden would then shift to the defendant employer to come forward with evidence that the employee was terminated for a legitimate reason, whereupon the plaintiff must prove that the reason was not true but a pretext for an otherwise impermissible termination. 536 So.2d at 1369. Relying upon the holding in Twilley, this Court held in Hayden v. Bruno's, Inc., 588 So.2d 874, 876 (Ala. 1991), that a plaintiff had failed to present a prima facie case where he had failed to present evidence that he was terminated because he had filed a claim for benefits. CEC contends that Mokrzycki did not make the showing required to support his claim of retaliatory discharge. Given that the Court must review the evidence most favorably to the prevailing party and must indulge all reasonable inferences that the jury was free to draw, Warren v. Ousley, 440 So.2d 1034, 1037 (Ala.1983), we conclude that Mokrzycki did present sufficient evidence to establish a claim of retaliatory discharge. In addition to the evidence presented in opposition to CEC's motion for summary judgment, Mokrzycki presented pattern and practice testimony and additional evidence in support of his claim. We find substantial evidence to warrant a jury's determination of Mokrzycki's retailiatory discharge claim. Therefore, the trial court properly denied CEC's motions for a directed verdict and a judgment notwithstanding the verdict.