Court of Appeals Affirms Dismissal of Retaliatory Discharge Claim
In Pharaoh-Carlson v. Hy-Vee, Inc., No. 13-1446 (Iowa App. Feb. 11, 2015), plaintiff alleged that the jury instruction provided by the district court misstated the law regarding the workers' compensation public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine. Plaintiff argued that he was discharged for filing a workers' compensation claim while defendant argued that the discharge was due to a no-call, no show on the part of plaintiff. The court first noted that plaintiff had waived its objection to the jury instruction because the objection to the instruction, although made by plaintiff, was insufficiently specific. Despite this finding, the court went on to address the merits of the decision. The instruction to the jury, among other things, indicated that employment at will employees could be discharged for any reason, that it is against public policy to discharge workers for pursuing their right under the workers' compensation act, and indicated it was no...