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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

Mignone v. Mo. Dep't of Corr., 546 S.W.3d 23 (2018)

Citation
Mignone v. Mo. Dep't of Corr., 546 S.W.3d 23 (2018)
Parent Document
Mignone v. Mo. Dep't of Corr., 546 S.W.3d 23 (2018)
Jurisdiction
Missouri (state)
Effective Date
2018-02-06

Other Sections in This Document (127)

Full Text

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As we discussed in § I.A., the jury could determine that the various performance log entries made by Department personnel were intended as discipline, and that Mignone was justifiably concerned as to how those log entries would affect her tenure with the Department. The log entries were hardly isolated, random acts. There was evidence of five separate entries, each of which the jury could find lacked a good-faith, performance-related justification. These included entries for allegedly making exaggerated gestures with her arms and legs; leaning across a desk in a purportedly provocative manner; walking or skipping backwards; telling inmates to stop making sexual comments to her; and asking that a previous log entry be removed from her file. The jury could reasonably conclude that these behaviors, even if they occurred, did not deserve a formal written reprimand. In addition, several of the log entries were signed by multiple supervisors, which would magnify the significance of the log entries from Mignone's perspective, but also reflects that the preparation of these entries was reviewed, and approved, by multiple senior Department employees. It is significant that Mignone did not receive a single performance log entry during the first three years of her employment, but instead received uniformly positive performance appraisals until she filed a complaint against Fagan. Following her complaint, she received five log notes in the course of four months. See Williams v. Trans States Airlines, Inc. , 281 S.W.3d 854, 871 (Mo. App. E.D. 2009) (affirming submission of punitive damages involving allegedly retaliatory discharge, where employee had no prior history of performance deficiencies, and evidence suggested that claims of deficient performance were unfounded).