Minnesota Lawyer

Representing employers is a way to create a law practice that is balanced between the human element of the profession and being a self-described “law nerd,” according to Minneapolis lawyer Jenny Gassman-Pines, an attorney at Greene Espel.

Representing individual employees is civil rights litigation in an employment context. The cases are about a protected status or activity but in a specific job setting.

Sheila Engelmeier works both sides of the line in employer-employee disputes, trying to help the employees find common ground. You can make a difference on the defense side while being sympathetic to plaintiffs, she said.

Home to a highly competitive medical device industry as well as other Fortune 500 companies, Minnesota has its fair share of employee noncompete agreements. Especially lately.

Dyan Ebert represents public and some private entities in employment litigation, but like many lawyers, right now she is spending a lot of time counseling clients through the daily challenges of operating a workplace during a pandemic.

Employment law in Minnesota has been marked recently by more robust federal agency enforcement, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor. At the same time, that isn’t “that new” in Minnesota which has enforced the Minnesota Human Rights Act and other laws protecting employees, said Minneapolis employment attorney Justin Cummins of Cummins & Cummins.

The new acting general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board is Peter Sung Ohr and he is not a potted plant, according to Minnesota lawyer Brendan Cummins, of the eponymous law firm Cummins & Cummins. “He’s going to be active in protecting employee rights.”

Celeste Culberth sees systemic gender imbalance in society as a whole, but also sees that society is full of blind spots about the issue, and some will bend over backward to avoid confronting it.

Minnesota teachers went on strike in 1970, spurring the passage of the Public Employees Labor Relations Act in 1971. It’s been amended over the years, with the assistance of Hopkins attorney Gregg Corwin, of Gregg Corwin and Associate. Corwin was admitted to practice in 1972 and has been representing employees since then, starting with AFSCME members. He continued to represent organized labor and ended up with special expertise in PELRA litigation, as well as working with the Legislature drafting amendments to the law.

Littler-Mendelson, a global law firm, states on its website that as of March 12 there were 1,982 lawsuits (including 157 class actions) filed against employers due to alleged labor and employment violations related to the coronavirus. California has 472, Minnesota has 19. Minnesota has 13 state cases, California, 409.