After hours of contentious debate Monday evening, the Missouri House passed a bill that restores some common sense to discrimination lawsuits.The measure, SB 43, requires people who allege discrimination in the workplace to explicitly prove their age, race, sex or other protected status, actually motivated or caused their company to discriminate against them to win their case.If you are scratching your head wondering why it took legislative action to establish a legal standard that seems obvious, you might be surprised to learn that isn’t the way the law works today.The language of the Missouri Human Rights Act makes it unlawful to discriminate or retaliate “because of” gender, race, national origin, religion, age or disability.Historically, courts have interpreted the “because of” language in the law to mean either the determining factor or motivating factor. But in 2005, an advisory committee of lawyers, decided that the words “because of” meant “contributing factor” -- a much lower burden of proof for an employee to meet.Interestingly, the Missouri Supreme Court adopted the “contributing factor” legal standard in deciding a number of key cases in recent years. The result was predictable. There has been an explosion of discrimination cases in the state.Because of the lower standard, even the most frivolous cases escape summary judgment and go to trial. And the trials have resulted in many more jury verdicts because it is very easy to argue to the jury that anything can “contribute” to the adverse employment actions.The costs of litigation force many employers to settle even frivolous cases prior to trial. Employers call it a “shakedown” and liken it to extortion when they have to pay money to employees who they had a legitimate reason to terminate.During the debate over SB 43 there were spirited claims that the measure was a step backwards in the fight for civil rights and would encourage and facilitate discrimination in the workplace.That is nonsense.All the bill does is restore the burden of proof to what it was prior to 2005. The Missouri Human Rights Act was enacted to prevent intentional discrimination.This bill does nothing to disturb this important principle. Employers who discriminate will continue to be held accountable under SB 43.No state in the country has the “contributing factor” standard. Missouri shouldn’t either.We are glad the Legislature took action to restore some common sense in this area of the law. Gov. Greitens should sign this bill.