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Minnesota

Employment Lawyer Network:
Minnesota

Carl Crosby Lehmann (Editor)

Minnesota Employment Law

Carl.Lehmann@GPMLaw.com
(612) 632-3234

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Carl Crosby Lehmann, Esq., of Gray, Plant Mooty in Minneapolis, has significant experience in advising employers on personnel matters, drafting employment policies and agreements, and litigating employers' interests in both administrative and judicial proceedings. Carl's practice includes advising employers in personnel-related matters, including terminations, discrimination and sexual harassment issues, defamation claims, employment and independent contractor agreements, noncompete and confidentiality agreements, wage-hour concerns, voluntary and mandatory affirmative action policies, and insurance issues.

The evidence is on Facebook: Can we fire for inappropriate behavior while wearing our logo?

01/22/2014
Q. One of our employees recently posted a picture of himself on Facebook doing something inappropriate while wearing a T-shirt with our company logo on it. The inappropriate conduct didn’t occur at a work event, but we’re concerned that the T-shirt connects us to the conduct. We would like to fire him immediately, but we hesitate because the termination is based on his personal Facebook page.

In case of he-said/she-said harassment, can we make employees hand over text messages?

01/22/2014
Q. One of our employees was recently accused of sending sexually harassing texts to another employee. The complaining employee said she was so upset by the texts she deleted them; the accused employee adamantly denies sending the texts. Can we search the accused employee’s cellphone or is there a way to retrieve the messages from the complaining employee’s phone?

OSHA launches online whistle-blower complaint form

01/22/2014
OSHA now offers whistle-blowers an online complaint form. Until now, whistle-blowers had to either write or call OSHA. The online form is designed to provide workers who have been retaliated against an additional way to reach out for OSHA assistance.

Supreme Court dismisses controversial LMRA case

01/22/2014
The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case of UNITE HERE Local 355 v. Mulhall, which questioned whether a neutrality agreement in which the employer agreed to remain neutral on union organizing efforts violated the LMRA. For now, the question remains unresolved.

Weigh ADA, FMLA when considering return to work following disability leave

01/22/2014
Under the ADA, disabled em­­ployees may be entitled to disability leave beyond what’s available through the FMLA and other accrued leave like vacation and personal time. However, they may not be entitled to reinstatement to their prior position.

Justify move to outsource troubled department

01/22/2014
Before outsourcing, carefully lay the groundwork. Document the underlying financial and practical reasons, especially if the department is troubled and some employees have filed discrimination or harassment complaints.

Beware discipline immediately after complaint

01/22/2014
Before you authorize disciplinary action against an employee who has just complained about discrimination or harassment, prepare for a legal fight. If you follow through and the employee sues, few courts will quickly dismiss the case.

Deflecting Cupid’s arrow in an environment shaped by #MeToo

01/01/2014
With Valentine’s Day on the way, now is an excellent time to reexamine sexual harassment policies.

Can we hire contractors and later–if they work out–convert them into employees?

12/23/2013
Q. We’re expanding our marketing efforts over the next few months. Because we don’t have much time to go through a rigorous recruitment effort, we are considering hiring a number of people on a contractor basis. If they work out, we’ll then consider hiring them as employees. Can we do that?

Minnesota bans the box: What it means for employers

12/23/2013
Minne­sota is joining a number of other states in prohibiting em­­­­­­ployers from asking job applicants about their criminal records prior to a job interview. Here’s what you need to know about Minnesota’s new “ban the box” law.