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Employment Law

Undocumented workers’ best witnesses may be other undocumented workers

06/20/2013
Former employees who are un­­documented or illegal immigrants and claim they have been discriminated against based on their country of origin can sue, even if the em­­­­ployees they are comparing themselves to are also undocumented.

How to thwart bias lawsuits: Have supervisor who did the hiring also handle firing

06/20/2013
Here’s a tip that can help prevent successful termination lawsuits: Set up your system so that the same individual or individuals who make hiring decisions also make the final termination decisions. It will help you prevail in court if the fired employee tries to sue you for discrimination.

Minnesota Supreme Court clarifies workplace sexual harassment rules

06/20/2013
The Minnesota Supreme Court has issued a ruling that ­clarifies what employees have to show in order to win a sexual harassment case under the MHRA. It concluded that employees who work in a sexually hostile work environment don’t have to lose pay or benefits to win a case. Nor is it a defense that the harasser was an equal opportunity harasser who targeted both men and women.

State OKs same-sex marriage, employers await DOMA ruling

06/20/2013
Minnesota has become the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage, following enactment of legislation that re­­quires employers to provide the same rights to same-sex couples as to opposite-sex couples in terms of health coverage and survivor benefits.

Obscenity, drunk-dialing: No unemployment

06/20/2013
In a win for common sense, the Court of Appeals of Minnesota has reversed an unemployment compensation award to a supervisor who used obscenities at work and then drunk-dialed a subordinate more than once.

Beware firing worker who sleeps with the enemy

06/20/2013
Here’s a situation that should send you straight to your attorney’s office. If you fire an employee because you discovered her spouse works for the competition, you may be violating the marital status discrimination clause in the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA).

Screaming at ashtrays: Just part of the job?

06/20/2013
That’s what several employees of Dynamic Medical Services in Miami were required to learn to do, according to a recently filed EEOC religious discrimination lawsuit.

Court: If interns perform work, pay them!

06/19/2013
A New York case with a Hollywood connection is a timely reminder that, in almost all cases, employers must pay interns, no matter how menial their work is.

Bill would ban demanding access to Facebook, Twitter accounts

06/19/2013
Ten states already prohibit employers from requiring employees and job applicants to hand over their personal website passwords, and now the House of Representatives is considering similar national legislation.

Speak freely to EEOC–it’s privileged communication

06/18/2013
Good news: You won’t be held personally liable—and neither will your company—for what you say in re­­sponse to an EEOC complaint. State­­ments made in an EEOC investigation are privileged.