CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The law, which was introduced by a legislator whose company is currently involved in
a discrimination suit, requires workers who claim discrimination in wrongful
termination lawsuits to prove that bias was the explicit reason they were fired. The
current standard is much lower, requiring them to prove only that bias contributed to
their dismissal.
The law also removes whistleblower protections for state employees, caps punitive
damages awarded in discrimination or harassment lawsuits and mandates that those
alleging discrimination can only sue employers and not individual employees or
supervisors who may have engaged in the discriminatory or harassing behavior. This
standard extends to housing and any other type of discrimination lawsuits.
The Missouri NAACP urged citizens to file any pending discrimination lawsuits prior
to August 28, 2017, when the new was scheduled to go into effect.