Minneapolis Wrongful Termination Law Blog

Mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD seem to be increasing each year. Many potential employees will fail to even apply for a job because they fear being immediately turned down due to these types of conditions. What they fail to realize is that mental health conditions are covered under the same legal protections as physical health conditions. As such, it is the sole decision of a job applicant whether or not to disclose this information in a job interview, or at any time thereafter unless required for accommodations or benefit eligibility.

While employers may assess the skills and potential of job applicants, under the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act they cannot fail to make a job offer, harass, or terminate an employee due to a mental health condition.

Although some may truly enjoy doing their jobs, most Minnesota residents go to work each day because they need to earn money to support their families. A pay check is an important part of keeping families afloat and securing the resources individuals need, so they can live their lives without fear of knowing where the food, shelter, and other requirements will come from. Not many people actively choose to engage in practices that could threaten their livelihoods and jeopardize their jobs.

However, some workers are placed in very difficult positons when they know their employers are doing something wrong but they are also afraid of speaking up. Witnessing illegal acts or becoming aware of damaging actions by one's employer can be stressful for a worker who wants to say something but is scared that doing so may cost them their job. For those who are in this terrible situation, attorney John Klassen is available.

Minnesota residents may have been following the developing news about a local Chipotle firing one of its managers after a video emerged where she suggested that five black customers were not going to pay for their meal. The viral video showed the manager telling one of the customers that they have to pay, because they rarely have money when they come into the store and that food would not be made until the customers had money. The customers complained about stereotypes in the video and one of them took the complaint to social media, resulting in a flood of complaints against the food chain and their decision to terminate the manager in question.

New evidence, however, suggests that the manager was not racially discriminating against the customers in question. In the videos posted online, employees present at the time could also be heard saying they had previously ordered food at the restaurant without paying for it. In fact, tweets emerged showing at least one of the customers supporting the practice of dining and dashing, and even boasting about doing it at various restaurants, including Chipotle.

Age discrimination is a prohibited employment action under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Employers in a variety of industries are not allowed to make adverse employment and hiring decisions about individuals based upon their ages. In Minnesota and other jurisdictions, cities and other local governments often fall under these rules, though prior to a recent United States Supreme Court decision the number of employees a municipality or group employed may have exempt it from the ADEA.

An age discrimination case arose in Arizona that involved the termination of two firefighters who were both over the age of 40. The men sued their former employer and claimed that they were the victims of age discrimination. Their employer, however, countered that the ADEA did not apply to them because they employed fewer than 20 workers.