Category: BLOG
EEOC LACKS PROOF OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN HIRING, COURT SAYS
A federal judge dismissed a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that a hiring policy by test preparation company Kaplan discriminated against African American applicants. The test preparation company reviewed the credit history of job applicants and declined to hire those with imperfect credit histories. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission …
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“America’s Worst Charities” – Where is the Money Going?
Almost $1 billion of $1.3 billion donated to “America’s Worst Charities” in the past decade went to for-profit solicitors rather than the intended beneficiaries of these donations, reported The Tampa Bay Times in conjunction with the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and the Cable News Network (CNN). Entitled “America’s Worst Charities,” the exposé listed detailed …
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Can My Employer Require Me to Come to Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, workers across Minnesota are asking one simple question: Question: Can my employer require me to come to work during the pandemic? The short answer: You may be able to refuse to work if you reasonably believe your working conditions present an imminent danger of death or serious physical harm to yourself …
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Minnesota’s Connect 700 Program: Aiming to Increase Representation of Workers With Disabilities
In 2014, a Minnesota demographic survey conducted on State employees showed that less than 4% self-identified as having a disability. When compared to the presence of employees with a disability statewide and nationwide, 7.9% and 10.5% respectively, it was evident that the State’s workforce did not reflect the diversity of Minnesota’s population of individuals with …
New Federal Law Protections for Employees During The COVID-19 Pandemic
As the world faces the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak, it is important to know the laws that protect employees impacted by the virus. Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act into law.[1] Effective April 1, 2020, eligible employees are permitted to seek up to …
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FRAUD AND COVID-19 – Calling Out the Best and Worst of Us
“There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.” — Benjamin Franklin Crises like those we are experiencing now with Covid-19 call out the best of us – we see individuals providing care regardless of risk to self, communities reaching out to …
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Protections in Minnesota for Quarantined Employees with COVID-19
Did you know that Minnesota law protects employees who are quarantined or in isolation due to COVID-19? Under Minnesota law,[1] an employer cannot terminate, discipline, threaten, or penalize an employee because the employee is (or has been) in isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19 (or another communicable disease) for up to 21 consecutive workdays.
International Women’s Day – A Call for Change!
International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8th, is a time to reflect on the progress made for women over the last 100 years and celebrate their courageous acts throughout history.[1] It is also a time to call for continued change. The Continued Uneven Playing Field Despite the movement to propel women’s opportunities, corporate America continues …
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Covid-19 Creates Opportunity to Rethink Virus-Monitoring Strategies
The worldwide spread of Covid-19 coronavirus presents an opportunity to rethink the way respiratory viruses are monitored in order to better understand how they spread, epidemiologist and Cochrane researcher Dr. Tom Jefferson writes in a new blog post for the BMJ journal. Dr. Jefferson is an internationally respected epidemiologist who is the Relator in a …
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Can the Government Direct a Whistleblower to Secretly Record Conversations with a Fraudster Represented by an Attorney?
The public-private partnership envisioned by the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA) is one of its most successful and powerful aspects, yielding billions of dollars in recoveries. The FCA permits the Government, the whistleblower, and their attorneys to cooperate—and they often do—when investigating and litigating FCA claims. But are there limits to …