The Minnesota Legislature is in session through May 20, 2019. This session promises to be very active with numerous bills affecting employers and the workplace. Major bills include paid leaves of absence (including family and...more
3/6/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Sick Leave Act ,
Pending Legislation ,
Personnel Records ,
Right to Work ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media Policy ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage Theft
Continuing a national trend, on May 30, 2018, the Duluth City Council enacted an ordinance requiring private businesses that employ five or more employees to provide paid sick and safe leave to employees. The ordinance goes...more
Minimum wage rates for employees of the largest businesses in St. Paul will increase to $15 per hour on July 1, 2022. Other businesses in St. Paul will be required to meet the wage hike between July 1, 2023, and July 1, 2027,...more
After suffering two embarrassing departures of its members in the wake of sexual harassment complaints by staffers and female members, the Minnesota Legislature is considering amending the state’s discrimination statute to...more
Minimum wage rates for most employees in Minnesota will increase on January 1, 2018. Both the state of Minnesota's automatic minimum wage hike and a new minimum wage ordinance for workers in the city of Minneapolis will take...more
In the waning hours of the 2017 legislative session, Republicans who control both houses of the Minnesota Legislature reached an agreement with Democratic Governor Mark Dayton on a budget bill that removed from a provision...more
As expected, the Uniform State Labor Standards Act (H.F. No. 600)—a Minnesota bill to preempt local employment law ordinances, including the Minneapolis and St. Paul safe and sick leave ordinances—passed in the state House of...more
Employers with employees in Minnesota—and in particular, those with employees in the cities of Minneapolis and/or St. Paul—may be interested in the status of several bills that have been introduced in the Minnesota...more
The battle over paid sick leave and minimum wage ordinances at the municipal level moved to the Minnesota Legislature as its 2017–2018 session kicked off at the end of January. Several bills introduced in the 2017-2018...more
In Sieden v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 16-1065 (January 26, 2017), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reiterated its view that an employee fails to establish pretext for an employer’s adverse employment action where...more
A challenge brought in state court by a coalition of business groups, employers, and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the Minneapolis Safe and Sick Time Ordinance (No. 2016-040) from...more
On October 31, 2016, a $1 million dollar judgment against BNSF Railway Co. evaporated when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit set groundbreaking precedent under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) and...more
Minnesota is one of several states that require all employers, both public sector and private sector, to grant time off with pay to employees to vote in the upcoming general election to be held on Tuesday, November 8,...more
A 63-year-old employee, who had worked in an administrative capacity for her employer for 12 years, was told that her position had been eliminated due to a customer-commissioned audit of the company’s services and recommended...more
In an unexpected surprising broadening of employee rights under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held, on June 27, 2016, that an employee who is discharged for refusing to obey an...more
A claim of an unfair discriminatory practice under the Minnesota Human Rights Act must be brought as a civil action or as a charge filed with a local commission or the Minnesota Department of Human Rights within one year...more
Obesity does not meet the definition of a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for either the discrimination or “regarded as” provisions of the statute, a panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals...more
4/25/2016
/ ADAAA ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Medical Examinations ,
Obesity ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Summary Judgment
In Gieseke v. IDCA, Inc., et al., No. A12-0713 (March 26, 2014), the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that “tortious interference with prospective economic advantage” is a viable claim under Minnesota law. In so holding, the...more
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected the sex discrimination, hostile work environment, constructive discharge, and retaliation claims that a graphic designer brought against her employer and two of her...more
Granting complete summary judgment to BNSF Railway Co., Chief Judge Michael Davis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota interpreted and provided the railroad industry with guidance pertaining to the...more
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an employee who drives a motor vehicle that has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 10,000 pounds falls within the “motor carrier exemption” of the Fair...more
On July 31, 2013, in a case that possibly opens the door to enlarging the limitations period for other statutory claims, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that a longer statute of limitations applies to a wrongful discharge...more
Capping a tumultuous session, the 88th Minnesota legislature, on the final day of the 2013 session, passed a bill, S.F. 778, which was long sought by labor unions because it would give them the right to organize private...more
Capping a tumultuous session, the 88th Minnesota legislature, on the final day of the 2013 session, passed a bill, S.F. 778, which had long been sought by labor unions. The bill gives unions the right to organize private...more
As the number of smartphones sold in the United States and worldwide overtakes sales of so-called ordinary cells phones, more Americans are using these devices while driving....more