Opinion ID: 463210
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Causation Instruction.

Text: 24 Hartley questions the propriety of the jury instruction on causation which stated [y]our verdict must be for the defendants James and Russell if the plaintiff would have been terminated regardless of his political affiliation. Hartley asserts that the defendants should have been required to prove that Hartley's discharge was solely based on a departmental reorganization, as stated in the termination letter to Hartley. However, the cases which Hartley cites in support of this contention do not address constitutional violations. See Whitmer v. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, 90 F.Supp. 253, 256 (W.D.Mo.1950) and Seifner v. Weller, 171 S.W.2d 617, 623 (Mo.1943). 25 Under the Supreme Court's decision in Mt. Healthy, supra, 429 U.S. at 287, 97 S.Ct. at 576, Hartley had the burden of proving that he was discharged for his political affiliation in violation of his constitutional rights. The defendants were then entitled to show that the same termination decision would have been reached in the absence of protected conduct. Id. As such, the defendants were free to demonstrate that the true reason for Hartley's discharge was his alleged poor performance. Accordingly, we find no error in this instruction. 26