City of St. Louis, Missouri, et al. Missouri Cases

Ronell Johnson, an African-American police officer, appealed from a trial court's judgment entering a directed verdict for Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence O'Toole and a jury verdict for the City of St. Louis and other respondents on his claims of race discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation under the MHRA. Johnson challenged the trial court's rulings on closing argument misstatements, the directed verdict, exclusion of comparator evidence, and refusal to submit punitive damages. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding no prejudice from the closing argument error or the directed verdict, and no abuse of discretion in the evidentiary ruling.