Tilley: Missouri Human Rights Act

As session continues to heat up before the final stretch, the Missouri House continues to pass new job-creating reforms. We want to avoid the last-minute confusion we often hear about in Washington D.C. by getting things done early. This week we truly agreed and finally passed a bill to help eliminate junk lawsuits that employees file against their employers.

The Missouri Human Rights Act (”MHRA”) is our state’s version of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act – it punishes employers for discriminating against employees in protected classes, including race, sex, national origin, age, or religion.

The problem with the MHRA is that it is enforced differently than the federal law – basically, Missouri Businesses are forced to be in compliance with two anti-discrimination laws that say different things. They may be in compliance with one, but not the other, and it is very confusing.

Additionally, under the federal law, an employer can get a frivolous lawsuit thrown out of court early in the process through “summary judgment.” This greatly reduces the cost of defending against junk lawsuits, and allows employers to spend more money on creating new jobs, and less on legal fees.

Missouri courts have interpreted the MHRA so that employers cannot get frivolous lawsuits thrown out before trial at “summary judgment.” This means that if an employee has it out for an employer, they can file junk lawsuits and the employer is forced to spend money defending them all the way to trial.

Our bill [SB188] would amend the MHRA so that it is interpreted like Federal laws. This will make it easier for our businesses to be in compliance and make sure they are not breaking the law.

Also, we added damage caps to MHRA cases. The larger the business an individual is suing, the more money they can collect. We want to protect small businesses that are growing and hiring new people from being wiped out by a single lawsuit – harmed individuals should certainly receive compensation, we just don’t want that compensation to cost several other people their jobs.

Finally, this bill adds “whistleblower” protection to the MHRA. Currently, if an employee refuses to do something at work that is illegal, it may be possible for their employer to fire them for insubordination.

We think that it is important to protect employees who refuse to engage in illegal activity at work, or who report this illegal activity to their manager or the proper authorities.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve here in the House of Representatives. As always, I welcome your comments. You may reach me at 573-751-1488, send your e-mails to steven{dot}tilley{at}house{dot}mo{dot}gov or write to me at the Missouri House of Representatives, State Capitol, Room 308, Jefferson City, MO 65101.