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Employment Law

Ensure harassment victim knows you want her to stay

04/01/2008
Employees who believe they are enduring unbearable harassment may feel they have no choice but to resign. If that happens, they may be able to sue their employers for constructive discharge. But employers can mitigate that danger by making sure the employee understands that management wants her to stay on board while the company investigates …

Document timing of employee complaints

04/01/2008
When it comes to retaliation, timing is everything. It’s impossible for an employer to retaliate against an employee for complaining about alleged harassment or discrimination before the employer knows about it. That’s why it’s so important to note for the record the date and the exact time HR or a supervisor got a harassment or discrimination complaint …

Incapacity doesn’t extend time to contact EEO counselor

04/01/2008
Federal employees are required to contact their agency’s Equal Employment Opportunity counsel within 45 days of experiencing alleged discrimination unless circumstances beyond an employee’s control prevent her from contacting the counselor. But it takes more than a blanket “I was depressed” to win an extension …

Making a frivolous complaint is not protected activity

04/01/2008
When employees file frivolous complaints, it doesn’t count as a protected activity. That means an employee can’t set up his employer by filing a nonsensical discrimination claim and then waiting for some perceived punishment or imagined slight to create a retaliation lawsuit. Courts seem to be catching on to that common practice …

Be careful what you promise: You may extend employee’s time to sue

04/01/2008
The Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) protects employees from discrimination, but requires them to file their claims within one year of the discriminatory act. But an employee who believes she has a claim and waits to file may sometimes gain extra time—if the discriminating entity promises to investigate …

Whistle-Blower protection requires employee’s intent to expose illegality

04/01/2008
Minnesota’s whistle-blower law protects health care workers from retaliation. It is illegal to take adverse employment action against employees who report situations in which the quality of health care services violates a clinical or ethical standard or places the public at risk. But whistle-blowers must intend to expose illegality; it can’t just be in the context of doing their jobs …

Drywall company faces class action suit

04/01/2008
Eight Hispanic workers have filed a class action lawsuit against drywall company Mulcahy Inc., of Mahtomedi, alleging the company paid them less than minimum wage and denied them overtime pay, breaks and health benefits. Because they say they fear retaliation, the workers are suing under the pseudonym “John Doe” …

The power of PowerPoint, and a gentle letdown

04/01/2008
Salvatore Salerno, a sociology instructor at the Hutchinson campus of Ridgewater College, sued for age discrimination after being passed over for a full-time, tenure-track position …

FMLA changes are here — and even more are on the way

04/01/2008

Employers with 50 or more employees that are subject to the requirements of the FMLA, take note: Significant developments are under way: A new law extends leave benefits to military families, and the U.S. Labor Department is revamping regulations interpreting employers’ obligations under the FMLA …

How much cooperation must we give to a state discrimination investigation?

04/01/2008
Q. I own a small medical device company. We are responding to a frivolous charge of discrimination filed by a former employee. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights has contacted us to conduct interviews of certain employees. Do I have to make these employees available? Can I ask to participate in the employee interviews? — S.G., Bloomington …