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Employment Law

Under MFLSA, double damages mandatory

09/25/2018
Under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act, employers found to have underpaid workers by not paying the state minimum wage or by not calculating overtime correctly must pay workers what they are owed. The MFLSA also provides for a penalty of doubling the amount owed.

Was that sexual harassment or just boorish behavior?

09/25/2018
It takes more than a few crude comments to create a sexually hostile work environment.

Carefully document all details when employee starts having attendance problems

09/25/2018
It may seem obvious that a worker isn’t following your attendance rules. However, always carefully document each absence anyway. Meticulous records make it easier to win if the employee claims your discipline was based on discrimination or retaliation.

Out on medical leave? Don’t automatically reject bid for promotion

09/25/2018
You might assume that if an employee is out on medical leave and applies for a promotion or a different position, you can reject her application because she can’t currently work. But that could turn out to be a big mistake.

Courts appreciate employers’ basic fairness

09/25/2018
Employers that treat employees fairly seldom lose lawsuits. Judges and juries understand that employers have a business to run, but appreciate it when they try to do the right thing under difficult circumstances. Here’s an example of how fairness won out.

Keillor’s son among latest forced to leave PHC

09/25/2018
Three long-time employees of “A Prairie Home Companion” have been terminated in what could be continued fallout from alleged sexual harassment by the radio show’s long-time host Garrison Keillor.

Walmart sued for pregnancy bias

09/25/2018
Walmart violated federal law when it refused to accommodate workers’ pregnancy-related medical restrictions, the EEOC charged in a lawsuit filed Sept. 21.

Diabetic drivers approved for commercial interstate runs

09/25/2018
A new rule finalized Sept. 19 for the first time allows truck drivers with diabetes to operate commercial vehicles on interstate routes as long as they can prove they carefully monitor and manage the disease.

Disloyal executive? Claw back pay from ‘faithless servant’

09/24/2018
Employers faced with a high-level “disloyal” employee may be able to recover compensation and costs associated with litigating that employee’s disloyalty in court. Here are two recent examples of such “claw backs.”

After harassment, court takes bite out of Stellar Dental

09/24/2018
A New York state court has ordered Buffalo-based Stellar Dental Care to pay more than $200,000 after it failed to address severe sexual harassment by a dental assistant.