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Employment Law

Illegal benzene dump results in $700,000 fine

02/09/2012
Marathon Petroleum Corp. has paid a $700,000 fine for dumping benzene, a known carcinogen, into an unlined lagoon near the Mississippi River in 2010. Since the incident, Marathon has sold the facility located in St. Paul Park.

Jennie-O Turkey cited for amputation incident

02/09/2012
Willmar-based Jennie-O Turkey Stores faces 11 safety violations after a machine at its Barron, Wisc., slaughterhouse cut off an employee’s arm.

Minneapolis Parks & Rec faces race bias charges

02/09/2012
The Minneapolis NAACP has leveled charges of discrimination against the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board. The group claims board practices are biased against minority employees and city residents.

Employee quit for better job? Beware unemployment liability

02/09/2012
Sometimes, a new job doesn’t work out—and the new kid on the block is the first to be let go in a downturn. That’s when his previous employer may be in for a surprise.

Review arbitration clause for class-action provision

02/09/2012
If you use arbitration to resolve disputes, now is a good time to have your attorney review your arbitration agreement. A federal court in Minnesota has recently concluded that a valid arbitration agreement may allow collective-action arbitration, even if the agreement itself never mentions the possibility.

Warn managers: Angry statements could cause defamation, slander lawsuits

02/09/2012
When training managers and supervisors on how to treat subordinates, make sure they understand they should never make any belligerent statements that could be interpreted as defamation or slander.

Know Minnesota’s disability law: State statute has lower threshold than federal ADA

02/09/2012
Under the ADA, employees who claim to be disabled must show that their condition substantially im­­­pairs a major life function. Min­ne­sota has its own version of the law. It requires that employees show their condition materially impairs a major life function. That’s a lower standard, but still a tough one for employees to prove.

Accommodate–don’t dismiss–disabled worker

02/09/2012
Disabled employees may have trouble doing their jobs without an accommodation. If you simply tell the employee to figure out a way to perform the job and refuse to help find an accommodation, the em­­ployee may quit and apply for unemployment.

Use harassment hotline? Keep detailed records

02/09/2012
Chances are, you have a sexual harassment policy that gives em­­ployees several ways to report har­­ass­­ment—maybe including a hotline for phoning in problems. But beware: An employee may file an EEOC complaint before you even have a chance to investigate alleged harassment. If that happens, your hotline records may play a crucial role in your defense.

Spike in religious, national-origin job bias claims

02/09/2012
For the second year in a row, the EEOC received a record number of employee job discrimination claims (99,947 in 2011). New EEOC figures show that religious and national-origin bias claims saw the biggest increases last year, up 10% and 5%, respectively.