Minnesota Lawyer

Discrimination never goes away, and some employment issues never go away. “Some things disappoint over and over,” said attorney William O’Brien, at Miller O’Brien Jensen, who has practiced law for nearly 40 years.

Historically, cultural or social uncertainty has increased interest in labor unions. Uncertainty marks the United States as it deals with a deadly pandemic, business shutdowns, unemployment, and the task of getting restarted again. So it isn’t surprising to Michael Moberg that now is the time for a push by organized labor, with the support of a like-minded president.

Despite Gov. Tim Walz’s explicit executive orders requiring working from home during the pandemic, some employees are subject to pressure from employers to return to the workplace. Minneapolis attorney Nicholas May is in the prelitigation stage of a case over a pretty blatant directive to return.

Trial preparation starts when the complaint is drafted.

There seems to be a consensus that to really move on from the pandemic, people have to get back to work and, as a practical matter, children have to get back to school. There also seems to be a consensus that children are not only educated, but nurtured, in schools.

In 2017 former Chisago County Sheriff Rick Duncan approached a crime analyst and told her he had received letters from an anonymous source called “Control Freak” who threatened the analyst, Michelle Jacobson. Duncan later produced an email from the same source demanding that Jacobson go to a hotel in Bemidji with Duncan. She didn’t and eventually left her job. Duncan resigned as well. The hoax was revealed.

Good policies, good training, good record keeping and good relationships have been for quite a long time and still are the best ways for employers to keep happy workplaces.

Joseph Kelly represented a veteran who was fired by the city of Hopkins, reinstated after a veteran’s preference hearing, and was sued by the city for $66,000 for the costs of the hearing.

Class actions against employers, qui tam actions under the False Claims Act and federal protection for employees based on sexual orientation are among the top issues to attorney Clayton Halunen in Minneapolis.

Last year, the United States Supreme court said that LGBTQ employees are protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act from sex discrimination. To many It was an unexpected and lauded decision.