Blog Archives | Page 17 of 17

April 19, 2012

Everyone who gets up every day and heads off to work deserves to work in an atmosphere free of sexual harassment. An employee should not have to suffer a hostile work environment for fear of losing their ability to provide financially for themselves and their families. Unfortunately some employers either knowingly allow or even actively foster an environment where employees are subject to repeated instances of sexual harassment.

Two employees of a Twin Cities car dealership said that they were no longer willing to work in such a hostile environment and have filed a lawsuit claiming that they experienced discrimination and sexual harassment. The suit claims that the CEO and a variety of other managers and other superiors engaged in the improper behavior.

April 1, 2012

I think we’d all like to think that if we were put into a situation where we knew that something was wrong, that we’d speak up, but that’s not always the case, especially in a workplace environment. Many people would be afraid that if they did speak up, it could cost them their jobs. Recently, LifeWatch Services Inc. has agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle charges that it submitted false claims to federal health care programs. All of this came to light because two former sales representatives chose to speak up and report the abuse.

The sales representatives filed the whistle-blower suits in December 2009 and May 2011 under the provisions of the False Claims Act. With this filing the two will receive approximately $3.4 million plus interest as their share of the settlement proceeds.

March 24, 2012

When Minnesota workers apply for a job, they expect that the employer’s decision will be based on their objective aptitude for the position. Yet some employers still impermissibly hire employees according to their race, national origin or sex. This week, FedEx agreed to settle with the U.S. Department of Labor over allegations that the company engaged in employment discrimination.

The allegations of discrimination were far reaching. According to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, over 21,000 applicants across 15 states were affected by FedEx’s behavior. The office caught the discriminatory practices because it routinely examines how contractors who work for the government–of which FedEx is one–choose to hire employees.

February 13, 2012

Both Minnesota and federal law protect employees who report illegal activities taking place in their workplace. Under these laws, it is generally illegal for an employer to retaliate against whistleblowers by firing or demoting them, among other actions.

Recently, a federal judge ordered the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to reinstate an employee who had reportedly complained about the poor maintenance of the clinic’s vehicles.

February 9, 2012

A home-improvement retail giant has settled a $1 million class action lawsuit which began after several minority employees complained about discrimination.

Most people in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area are family with Menards. The company has 262 stores in 13 states in the Midwest. In 2004, several Menards employees complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that they were held back within the company because of their race.

December 31, 2011

A recent University of Minnesota study found that flexible workplaces are not only conducive to employee health, but also to measurable productivity. The study was conducted at Best Buy headquarters in Richfield where a test initiative directed workers to focus on results and allowed them to change when and where they performed work based on their own needs.

The change of pace – which proved beneficial for both employer and employee – is not expected to be written into law in the form of new employee rights anytime soon. However, it is interesting to see how employees and companies can thrive when an added level of mutual respect is promoted in the workplace.

December 14, 2011

Two Minnesota companies have recently been accused by the federal government of employment discrimination.

Federal regulators first accused Cargill Inc. last month of discriminating on both race and gender grounds at its Arkansas turkey plant. The government claims that the company discriminated against thousands of entry-level workers at that plant.