Minnesota Employment Law Attorney

Your Rights and Employment Law

Employees who are the victims of unlawful employment practices have the right to take legal action. Unlawful employment practices include discrimination based on age, race and gender, as well as sexual harassment. They also include an employer who retaliates against employees or denies leave that falls under the Minnesota Parental Leave Law (MPLL) or the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

In addition, employers who retaliate against an employee when discrimination has been reported, or when an employee blows the whistle on improper or illegal conduct within the company, must be held responsible for their improper actions.

The most effective way in which workplaces can be relieved of illegal activities is to hold the employers accountable for their actions. There are a number of areas that fall under the category of illegal actions. These include wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation, Family Medical Leave Act violations, discrimination and retaliation which is carried out in any manner.

Because Minnesota is an at-will state, an employer has the right to fire an employee for any reason at any time. The exceptions, however, involve when a contract is in place that states an employer cannot fire without cause, a handbook or policy that limits the firing abilities of the employer, a collective bargaining agreement through your union, public policy conflicts, and discrimination or retaliation. When wrongfully terminated, a committed Minnesota employment lawyer at Heimerl & Lammers works to aggressively initiate and follow through with legal action against the employer, citing financial damages that have resulted from that wrongful termination.

Employment Lawyer in Minnesota

FMLA requires employers to allow employees, with job-protected unpaid leave, to care for themselves or immediate family members through a serious illness. The leave period is 12 weeks and also includes caring for a newborn, adopted, or foster child. Employees are eligible to take leave when they have been employed with the employer for 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours during that time period. In addition, the employee must work at a site where there are 50 or more employees employed within a 75 mile radius of that location. Employees who take leave are to be reinstated to their positions when they return to work.

Failure to reinstate an employee or discriminate against them in any way is a violation of FMLA and can result in penalties. Also, taking leave cannot interfere with a prospective promotion and if it does, legal action can be pursued.

Discrimination involves treating someone differently because of their color, race, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, age, receipt of public assistance, physical or mental disability or religion. Derogatory comments, racial slurs, prejudice expressions, verbal abuse, reprimands or termination, based on that person's differences, can be regarded as discrimination and also falls into the category of harassment because the conduct is unwanted.

If an individual is given a derogatory job review despite their good performance, this is also considered to be discrimination. In the case of disability, failure to accommodate the employee's disability, unless the employer would experience a hardship, is considered disability discrimination.

An individual who reports unlawful or improper activities within a business is a whistleblower and Minnesota and federal law prevents an employer from retaliating against that individual. Employers also cannot retaliate when an employee brings a discrimination lawsuit against them. Retaliation can include demotion, reassignment to a difficult work task, termination or withholding a promotion.

If you have been wrongfully terminated, discriminated against, denied your rights under FMLA or retaliated against in any way, you need immediate legal representation. We seek to defend your rights and to obtain damages from the employer, to compensate you for lost wages and other losses that you may have experienced. We work on a contingent basis, which means we don't get paid unless you do.

Contact a Minnesota employment law attorney when you or someone you know has been the victim of unlawful employment practices.