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Employment Law

Minnesota State Supreme Court extends time for whistle-blowers to file

01/21/2015
The Minnesota Supreme Court has overturned 20 years of precedent, ruling that some whistle-blower cases may be filed up to six years following an employer’s discriminatory act.

Trucking company won’t collect fees from EEOC

01/21/2015
The EEOC has won a reduction of a large attorneys’ fee award it had been ordered to pay for an allegedly frivolous lawsuit.

Alleged joint employer in for long slog in court

01/21/2015
Don’t count on getting off the hook if you are sued as a joint employer.

Employee’s discrimination complaint shouldn’t derail legitimate discipline

01/21/2015
Some employees think they can keep from getting fired by going to HR or the EEOC with a discrimination complaint. Then, they reason, if their employer does terminate them, it will be retaliation. Fortunately, that’s not true.

Think twice before changing employee’s job duties or hours during FMLA leave

01/21/2015
Employees who take FMLA leave are generally entitled to come back to their old jobs when they return. If you make any changes to their jobs, be sure you can document solid business reasons that are unrelated to FMLA leave.

Whistle-blower alert: Beware punishing employees who report customer wrongdoing

01/21/2015

You may prefer a “don’t rock the boat” mentality when it comes to reporting to police or other governmental authorities that a customer may be breaking the law. That doesn’t mean you can force employees to remain silent—or worse yet, punish them for going to authorities. Doing that could cost a fortune in damage awards, especially if it turns out that your employee was right.

Justice Dept. expands sex bias protections

01/21/2015
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced it will interpret the ban on sex discrimination in the Civil Rights Act’s Title VII to include gender identity. The Department of Justice may not bring actions against private employers, but can enforce the new interpretation against state and local governments.

Boss behaving badly? Maybe not harassment

01/21/2015
Employers should certainly strive to make their workplaces as pleasant and harassment-free as possible. But, sometimes supervisors make that almost impossible because they can’t refrain from acting like jerks.

White House pushes for paid sick, family leave

01/21/2015
The Obama administration has unveiled a series of proposals to provide paid family leave for new parents and seven days of paid sick leave for all American workers.

The fast lane to legal liability: Require employees to use their cars for work

01/20/2015

Do you sometimes require em­­ployees to use their personal cars during the workday for job-related tasks like making banking runs or delivering supplies? If so, you’re risking liability if the em­­ployee is in an accident and a jury decides he was negligent.