Court Opinion

ID: 9666304
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:10:43.254363+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:26.442892
License: Public Domain

SMITH, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
I believe the majority opinion has applied an incorrect burden of proof in this case. It is undisputed that cab drivers must be insured. To make a prima facie case the applicant must establish that he is qualified for the position he seeks. For a cab driver position he must prove he is insurable. Williams did not do so.
If a prima facie case is established, which I do not believe it was, then the employer must advance a legitimate reason for denying the employment. The employer advanced the uninsurability of the applicant here as the reason for denial of employment. It further presented evidence to support that reason. If insurability is a prerequisite to employment as a cab driver and if applicant’s handicap makes him unin-surable or insurable only at excessive cost to the employer then he is not qualified for employment. The reason advanced for non-employment is a legitimate one. It acquires a pretextual nature only if it is untrue.
The burden to establish the pretextual nature of the reason is upon the applicant. It is not the burden of the employer to establish that Williams is uninsurable; it is Williams’ burden to prove that he is insurable. The majority recognizes that insura-bility is a job qualification in its holding that after Williams has completed the application process “then a definitive decision on the ability of Laclede to maintain insurance coverage at a cost that is not prohibitive will be required.” Op. p. 398. Before Laclede can be found guilty of discriminatory non-hiring it must be established that the applicant is qualified and that the reason given for the non-hire is pretextual. By the majority’s own statement that has not been done. It was Williams’ burden to make that proof and he did not.
One comment is in order concerning the conclusions of law of the hearing examiner. In determining that uninsurability was not a defense, the examiner relied upon a portion of the Commission’s regulations, 4 CSR 180-3.060(F)(1) which states: “unin-surability or increased cost of insurance under a group or employee insurance plan does not render a disability job related.” (Emphasis supplied). That language obviously relates to an insurance plan such as health or life furnished to employees as a benefit of their employment. Presumably an uninsurable employee can waive such a benefit and does so by seeking and taking the employment. The provision does not apply to liability insurance where insurability is an indispensable qualification for the job. To apply the provision to that situation is to require an employer to hire an employee who is disqualified from working.
I would reverse the decision of the Commission.