A Missouri appeals court ruled that discrimination and retaliation claims survive a plaintiff’s death in a public employee whistleblower case out of St. Louis County.
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, ruled Feb. 11 that when claims of retaliation of discrimination under the Missouri Human Rights Act and the Public Employee Whistleblower Statute were injuries to the “rights” or “body,” they qualify as personal injuries that do not abate when the plaintiff dies under the survivorship statute.
The case stems from 2020 when Hazel Erby, a former St. Louis County Council member and employee of the county, filed a lawsuit against her employer alleging wrongful termination based on race, whistleblowing and disability discrimination. Erby had served as the directory of diversity, equity, and inclusion and part of her position included the county’s compliance with the Minority and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise Program, which required the county by ordinance to use a specific percentage of minority and women-owned contractors for county projects.
According to the lawsuit, Erby’s termination in August 2020 followed her complaints about her office being underfunded, as well as non-compliant contractors being awarded county projects, including during the construction of a temporary morgue in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She alleged that County Executive Sam Page dismissed her concerns, calling the MWBE program “flawed” and stating he would not “deal with that.”
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