Opinion ID: 2207114
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Instructions on the Burden of Proof.

Text: Plaintiff's next assignment of error contends that the district court erred in giving Instruction No. 12, which required him to disprove defendant's evidence of a nondiscriminatory reason for not rehiring plaintiff. The portion of the instruction applicable to this argument reads as follows: The burden of proof is on plaintiff to disprove this contention. In other words, for you to return a verdict in plaintiff's favor, you must find that plaintiff established, by a preponderance of the evidence, that plaintiff was equally or better qualified than the applicant hired for the position and that the reasons given by defendant as to why the plaintiff was not hired were false. This theory of the case appeared in a separate instruction and was also incorporated into the marshaling instruction. The procedure in discrimination cases, including disability discrimination, is as follows: (1) the complainant must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination; (2) the employer may then show a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its conduct; and (3) the complainant may then attack the reason as only a pretext for discrimination, or one unworthy of belief. Frank, 398 N.W.2d at 800. Defendant offered evidence that plaintiff was not as well qualified as the other applicants for the position for which he was rejected. It was established that plaintiff's right to reinstatement at this point was only to enjoy the same opportunity as anyone else applying for the job. For purposes of establishing that the reason given for not hiring him was pretextuous, plaintiff bore the burden of persuasion on whether he was at least as well qualified as the person who was eventually hired for the position. See Woodbury County v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm'n, 335 N.W.2d 161, 165 (Iowa 1983). [5]