Section 6 Special Pleading Requirements

• Library: Employment Discrimination 2008

Under each of the four categories, the cause of action for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy requires detailed fact pleading of each element to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted. In Adolphsen v. Hallmark Cards, Inc., 907 S.W.2d 333, 335 (Mo. App. W.D. 1995), the court explained that the requirement of specificity in pleading arises because the cause of action for wrongful discharge is based on a narrow exception to the general rule of at-will employment. As a result, the basis on which the plaintiff can establish a cause of action by fitting into the exception to the general rule must be pled. The employee must specify in the pleadings the legal provision in question, and it must affirmatively appear from the face of the petition that the legal provision involves a clear mandate of public policy. Id.

The pleading requirements set forth in Adolphsen, 907 S.W.2d 333, are not necessarily exhaustive. As illustrated by Lay v. St. Louis Helicopter Airways, Inc., 869 S.W.2d 173 (Mo. App...