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...

According to the EEOC, White Way Cleaners discriminated against a female worker when it first moved her from the cleaning line to the front counter during her first pregnancy and then again when it terminated her after learning she was pregnant again.

The company, with locations throughout the Twin Cities, has a policy of moving pregnant workers to the front desk to reduce their exposure to dry cleaning chemicals. The EEOC maintains little evidence exists showing that dry cleaning chemicals are harmful to pregnant women or their unborn children.

The EEOC also claims firing the employee when it learned of her second pregnancy violated the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Note: Employers with standing policies to move pregnant workers to different assignments better have strong scientific evidence to back their actions. Otherwise, the employer is simply treating pregnant workers differently for no real reason.