Michael v. Precision Alliance Group, LLC

Three employees filed retaliatory discharge suit against agricultural supply business dealing in soybean seeds, alleging they were discharged in retaliation for reporting Defendant business to State for shipping underweight product. After bench trial, court entered judgment for Defendant, but appellate court reversed and remanded for determination of damages. Retaliatory discharge claims are a narrow exception to general rule that employees are at-will. Defendant's reason for discharging one employee was for accident resulting from horseplay with forklift; and reason for discharging two employees was reduction in workforce. As court found Defendant's reasons for discharging Plaintiffs to be valid and nonpretextual, Plaintiffs did not prove element of causation, and circuit court properly entered judgment for Defendant.(GARMAN, FREEMAN, THOMAS, KILBRIDE, KARMEIER, and THEIS, concurring.)