Cosby v. Steak N Shake, No. 15-1052 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff appealed the dismissal of his disability discrimination and constructive discharge claims against SNS. The court concluded that, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, a reasonable person would not have found his work environment intolerable. Therefore, the district court did not err by granting summary judgment to SNS on plaintiff's claim under the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA), Mo. Rev. Stat. 213. The court concluded that the fact that an employee is disciplined in accordance with an employment policy is not enough to prove a constructive discharge claim under the MHRA. In this case, while one of plaintiff's supervisors laughed when asked about plaintiff's future at SNS and another supervisor told plaintiff that "this" would continue if he did not resign, the evidence was insufficient to create a material factual dispute about whether plaintiff's work environment was intolerable. The court also concluded that plaintiff did not give SNS a reasonable opportunity to resolve any problems with supervisors and plaintiff admits that he never complained about his supervisors during his employment. Therefore, the district court properly granted SNS summary judgment on plaintiff's constructive discharge claim. The court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Murphy, Author, with Melloy and Smith, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Employment Discrimination. The record established defendant demoted plaintiff before it became aware of his alleged disability, and the district court did not err in granting defendant summary judgment on plaintiff's claim under the Missouri Human Rights Act; a reasonable person would not have found the work environment intolerable, and the district court did not err in granting defendant summary judgment on plaintiff's constructive discharge claim.
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