Court Opinion

ID: 9742311
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:10:34.626088+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:30.871443
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE REINHARD, specially concurring: While I agree with the result reached in the majority opinion, I specially concur in order to set forth my own views regarding the issue of whether the trial court erred in refusing plaintiff’s tendered “mixed motive” instruction. Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in not instructing the jury that if it found that her filing a worker’s compensation claim was a substantial or motivating factor in her discharge, then it should find for plaintiff on her retaliatory discharge claim. Defendant responds, inter alia, that a mixed-motive instruction, as urged by plaintiff, is inappropriate under existing Illinois law. The parties do not cite, nor does my research indicate, any Illinois case addressing this precise issue. A plaintiff who claims retaliatory discharge based on her exercise of her rights under the Workers’ Compensation Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 48, par. 138.1 et seq.) must prove that her discharge was causally related to her filing a claim under the Act. (Motsch v. Pine Roofing Co. (1988), 178 Ill. App. 3d 169, 173, 533 N.E.2d 1; Slover v. Brown (1986), 140 Ill. App. 3d 618, 620-21, 488 N.E.2d 1103.) The causality element, however, requires more than a discharge in connection with a filing of a worker’s compensation claim. (Motsch, 178 Ill. App. 3d at 174, 533 N.E.2d at 4-5.) Causality is not established where the basis for the discharge is valid and nonpretextual. Motsch, 178 Ill. App. 3d at 174, 533 N.E.2d at 5; Slover, 140 Ill. App. 3d at 621, 488 N.E.2d at 1105. The two pertinent instructions given in this case on the plaintiff’s burden of proof are as follows: “[Defendant’s Instruction No. 10] In order to prevail on a claim for retaliatory discharge, Plaintiff must prove each of the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence: 1. That she was discharged in retaliation for the pursuit of her rights to obtain worker’s compensation benefits; and 2. That she suffered damage as a consequence of the discharge. If you find that the Plaintiff has proven each of these elements by a preponderance of the evidence, then your verdict should be for the Plaintiff. If, on the other hand, you find that any of the above elements have not been proved by Plaintiff by a preponderance of the evidence, then your verdict should be for the Defendant. * * * [Defendant’s Instruction No. 13] When I say that Plaintiff must prove that she was discharged in retaliation for the pursuit of her right to obtain worker’s compensation benefits, I mean that Plaintiff must prove that the motive, or actual reason, for her discharge was her pursuit of her rights to obtain worker’s compensation. Thus, if you find that the true reason or motive for the Plaintiff’s discharge was her pursuit of her right to obtain worker’s compensation benefits, then you must find that this element of the claim has been satisfied. On the other hand, if you find that the discharge was not motivated by the Plaintiff’s pursuit of her right to obtain worker’s compensation benefits, then you must find that this element has not been satisfied, even if the discharge was unfair, unwise, or otherwise improper. The fact that an at-will employee has filed a claim for worker’s compensation does not mean that she may not thereafter be discharged, only that she may not be discharged for pursuit of her right to obtain worker’s compensation benefits. It is for you to determine from the evidence whether or not the employer’s true reason for discharging the Plaintiff was the pursuit of her right to obtain worker’s compensation benefits.” These instructions, requiring the jury to determine the true reason for the discharge, either plaintiff’s absenteeism or her filing of a worker’s compensation claim, are consistent with Illinois law requiring her to establish causality. Such an approach allows the jury, as the trier of fact, to decide what the true reason was for plaintiff’s discharge. (See Netzel v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (1989), 181 Ill. App. 3d 808, 812, 537 N.E.2d 1348.) If the jury accepts defendant’s reason as the true reason for the discharge, as it apparently did here, it must necessarily reject plaintiff’s alleged reason. An instruction requiring the jury to choose which reason is the true reason for the discharge, as was given in this case, is consistent with plaintiff’s burden of proving causality. Giving a mixed-motive instruction, as urged by plaintiff, would effectively expand the tort by allowing a plaintiff to prove retaliatory discharge even though an employer terminated the plaintiff for a legitimate reason. In Illinois, the tort of retaliatory discharge, an exception to the common-law doctrine that an employer may discharge an employee at will for any reason or no reason, has been narrowly interpreted, and its expansion has not been encouraged. (Barr v. KelsoBurnett Co. (1985), 106 Ill. 2d 520, 525, 478 N.E.2d 1354; Veit v. Village of Round Lake (1988), 167 Ill. App. 3d 350, 353, 521 N.E.2d 145.) Such an expansion as would result by instructing on mixed motive would have a devastating impact on the at-will doctrine. Rather, I believe the current law requiring the plaintiff to establish causality strikes the appropriate balance between an employee’s right not to be fired in contravention of a clearly mandated public policy and an employer’s right to discharge an employee at will for any reason or no reason. While plaintiff cites numerous cases in support of her contention, I am unpersuaded as those cases either do not address the tort of retaliatory discharge as recognized in Illinois or are from foreign jurisdictions whose policies regarding retaliatory discharge may very well be quite different from ours. Further, it would be inappropriate to apply the standards under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as utilized in several cases cited by plaintiff, to a retaliatory discharge case brought under Illinois law. (Netzel v. United Parcel Service, Inc. (1989), 181 Ill. App. 3d 808, 812, 537 N.E.2d 1348.) For these reasons, I agree with the trial court’s refusal to give plaintiff’s proffered instructions on mixed motive.