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Minnesota

Quitting for severance bars unemployment benefits

11/09/2017
Workers who quit their jobs and take a severance payment in ex­­change for dropping a potential lawsuit weren’t “forced” to quit because of something their employers did to make remaining employed impossible. They, therefore, aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation payments.

Court rules teacher tenure protections aren’t subject to judicial review

11/07/2017
A Minnesota appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged a state law providing teachers with tenure protection. A group of parents had claimed that the law violated their children’s rights to an education because tenure made it difficult to get rid of ineffective teachers.

Worker must choose: Totally disabled or disabled needing accommodations

11/02/2017
An individual who applies for disability benefits, asserting that she is totally disabled, can still claim she’s entitled to reasonable accommodations under the ADA. However, she will have some explaining to do.

Health care employers: On immunization, balance patient safety, employee rights

10/31/2017
Many health care workers regularly deal with patients whose immune systems are compromised and who could suffer catastrophic consequences if exposed to an otherwise mild illness. What’s such an employer to do if a worker refuses to get an appropriate shot?

Ignored work rules? No unemployment benefits

10/26/2017
Employers are entitled to impose reasonable rules in their workplaces. Workers who refuse to abide by those rules aren’t eligible for unemployment compensation benefits if they are terminated.

Worker must object to harassment before suing

10/24/2017
When harassment isn’t obvious in the workplace, the worker who later claims to have been harassed has an obligation to at least complain and tell the aggressor his behavior is unwelcome. Make sure you warn supervisors to guard against such attitudes.

After Minnesota Supreme Court ruling, new rules for whistleblowers

10/16/2017
A unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court decision has made it considerably easier for workers to file—and win—whistleblower lawsuits under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act.

Minneapolis minimum wage to reach $15 by 2024

09/26/2017
Employers that operate in Minneapolis will have to pay workers $15 per hour by July 1, 2024. The city council approved the new ordinance this summer, with the first increase taking effect Jan. 1, 2018.

Eden Prairie, Minn. firm settles wrongful termination suits

09/26/2017
Starkey Laboratories, an Eden Prairie, Minnesota maker of hearing aids, has settled two wrongful termination lawsuits that followed the sacking of several top executives two years ago.

EEOC says Cargill violated Muslim workers’ rights

09/26/2017
Minnetonka-based agribusiness giant Cargill has run afoul of the EEOC when it refused to allow Somali-American workers to pray during their breaks at one of their Colorado facilities. The EEOC says that violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.