HR Specialist: Minnesota Employment Law

Toe the line on federal employment law, and Minnesota law could still trip you up. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This Minnesota-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: Minnesota Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

Pregnant women have many legal protections under Title VII’s sex discrimination provisions, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the FMLA. They rarely, however, qualify as disabled.

That’s because normal pregnancies may create temporary difficulties, but they’re not severe enough to count as substantial limitations under the ADA or material limitations under the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA). Thus, most pregnant women aren’t entitled to reasonable accommodations.

Recent case: Donita Stusse worked in the shoe department at a Von Maur store when she found out she was pregnant. She had fainted several times during past pregnancies, and her doctor said the store should accommodate her with a stool and regular breaks.

Von Maur fired her, and Stusse sued for denial of accommodations.

The court said she was experiencing a normal pregnancy, which isn’t a disability under the ADA or the MHRA. (Stusse v. Von Maur, No. 08-1088, DC MN, 2009)