Opinion ID: 1835073
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Jury Instruction on Motive.

Text: SMX contends that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that Smith had the burden of proving that his claim for workers' compensation benefits was the determining factor in SMX's decision to fire Smith. SMX urges that the workers' compensation claim must be proved to be the predominant and improper purpose behind the firing. The type of retaliatory discharge alleged is improper. It is not necessary for the plaintiff to prove that the discharge was both due to the claim of workers' compensation benefits and improper; if the former is true then the latter is true also. The trial court did not err in omitting that portion of SMX's requested instruction. The real issue is whether the claim for workers' compensation benefits must be the determining factor or the predominant purpose behind the firing. A purpose is predominant if it is the primary consideration in making a decision; while other reasons may exist, they are less influential than the predominant purpose. A determinative factor, on the other hand, need not be the main reason behind the decision. It need only be the reason which tips the scales decisively one way or the other. SMX relies on Harsha v. State Savings Bank, 346 N.W.2d 791 (Iowa 1984), to support its contention that the workers' compensation claim must be the predominant purpose behind Smith's discharge. In Harsha, a case dealing with interference with prospective business relationships, we stated that if a defendant acts for two or more purposes, the improper purpose must predominate in order to create liability. Id. at 799. See also Toney v. Casey's General Stores, Inc., 460 N.W.2d 849 (Iowa 1990) (same test applied to typical interference with contract claim). In Springer v. Weeks & Leo Co., 429 N.W.2d 558 (Iowa 1988), we characterized the retaliatory discharge as a variety of the tort of interference with the contract of hire. Id. at 560. SMX contends that under Harsha and the restatement (second) of torts, the same standards should apply to the tort of interference with contract. It is clear however, that retaliatory discharge for filing a workers' compensation claim is quite different from a typical instance of interference with contract such as Toney. In fact, because the tortfeasor in a situation such as the one before us is a party to the contract, the Restatement would exclude such a situation from its definition of interference with contract. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 766 (19__). In recognizing that an employee who was fired for filing a workers' compensation claim has a cause of action against the employer, we relied upon Iowa Code section 85.18 (1987). Springer at 561. We return to that section to determine the degree to which the retaliatory motive must influence the employer's decision to fire. As we pointed out in Springer, 429 N.W.2d at 561, retaliatory discharge relieves the employer of his responsibility by intimidating employees into foregoing the benefits to which they are entitled in order to keep their jobs. This intimidation occurs even if retaliation is not the predominant purpose for the firing. If retaliation is allowed to weigh at all in the employer's decision to discharge, there will be a chilling effect on employees entitled to claim benefits. This would clearly conflict with the public policy expressed in section 85.18. The trial court did not err in instructing the jury as it did.