Section 43 Elements of a Workers Compensation Retaliation Claim

• Library: Emp-Emp Law 2000

The leading case on retaliatory discharge, Hansome v. Northwestern Cooperage Co., 679 S.W.2d 273, 274 (Mo. banc 1984), recognized that § 287.280, now RSMo 1994, provided one of the limited exceptions to the “at will” doctrine, which permits an employer to fire a non-contract employee for any or no reason. The elements of a claim for retaliatory


discharge under The Workers’ Compensation Law, Chapter 287, RSMo, are:

• The plaintiff’s status as an employee of the defendant before the injury

• The...