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Employment Law

Under what circumstances can we demand alcohol testing? We suspect employee is impaired

07/22/2016
Q. We have been finding empty beer cans just outside our facility on a regular basis. We suspect one employee in particular since he often has slurred speech and stumbles around. We understand alcoholism is a disability, but we are fearful that he will get hurt because he is impaired. Should we ask him to submit to alcohol testing?”

Jennie-O pays almost $500,000 to settle gender bias claims

07/22/2016
The Jennie-O Turkey Store company—now owned by Hormel Foods but founded and still based in Willmar—has agreed to hire 53 women from a pool of previously rejected applicants.

EEOC sues Murphy USA gas stations for ADA violations

07/22/2016
Murphy Oil Corp., which operates Murphy USA gas stations typically located in Walmart parking lots in over 20 states including Minnesota, violated federal law by firing a store manager because of his disability, the EEOC charges in a recently filed lawsuit.

Litigation: Unintended consequence of regulation

07/22/2016
Sometimes, government regulation can unexpectedly lead to litigation.

Congrats on winning FLSA case! Now see about legal costs

07/22/2016
Should you happen to win a Fair Labor Standards Act case, you may be entitled to reimbursement of your litigation costs.

8th Circuit splits on NLRB authority on arbitration agreements banning class-actions

07/22/2016
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Minnesota employers, has come out against the NLRB’s interpretation on arbitration agreements.

Gay coaches’ exit bringing more fallout to UM Duluth

07/22/2016
A former director of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender services at the University of Minnesota Duluth is the latest ex-employee to sue the university.

Sometimes, accommodating disability just isn’t possible

07/20/2016

Finding an accommodation for a disabled employee is just always possible. There may be no practical way to accommodate some disabilities. If that’s the case, termination may the only reasonable option.

ADA accommodation: There’s an app for that

07/19/2016
From creating custom keyboards to interpreting garbled phone conversations, apps can now quickly, and inexpensively, help employers accommodate disabled workers.

Words matter at work: Is ‘fitting in’ code for bias?

07/18/2016
Worried an employee won’t fit into a department dominated by members of a protected class? Watch out! A court might decide “fitting in” is code for bias.