Race Discrimination in Employment in Minnesota
Minnesota is an “at-will” employment state. That means that your employer can fire you for any reason or no reason at all – even a stupid, incorrect, unfair, or unethical reason – provided that it’s not an illegal reason.
One illegal reason for making any employment decision about an employee is race. Your employer cannot make any decision about you – including hiring, termination, pay, raises, leave, suspension, hours, or discipline – on the basis of race. Making employment decisions even partly on the basis of race is prohibited by Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act and state law in the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Racial discrimination at work includes more than just name calling. It also means that employers can’t treat employees differently because of their race, ethnicity, or national origin. It is illegal for employers to discriminate based on race when it comes to wages, promotions, discipline, suspensions, or terminations. Consider hiring a Minneapolis employment lawyer if you feel you were terminated based on racial discrimination.
How Do I Prove a Race Discrimination in Employment Claim?
Your employer will probably not admit that it terminated you on the basis of racial discrimination. Most employers are too sophisticated for that, and unlawful discrimination is often implicit, subtle, and nuanced.
Usually, when employers discriminate on the basis of race, they’ll make up and offer a different, non-discriminatory reason for termination. For example, your employer might claim that it terminated you for poor performance. In order to win on a discrimination claim, employment lawyers have to prove that the reason offered by the employer is a pretextual reason that is just being said so that your employer can avoid having to say the actual, illegal reason for termination – racial discrimination.
We’ve got a couple ways to prove pretext on behalf of employees. First, we try to demonstrate that the reason given by the employer is just factually wrong. So, for example, if your employer claims that it terminated you for poor performance, but actually gave you high performance reviews for a number of years and has no written records of ever giving you discipline or counseling, then we’ve created a fact question for a jury regarding whether the reason given by the employer is the real reason for termination, or just pretext to mask race discrimination.
Second, we can prove that the reason given by the employer isn’t the real reason for termination because it wasn’t equally applied to similarly situated employees. So, if your employer claims that it terminated you for poor performance, but your peers actually had equal or worse performance reviews than you – or documented performance problems that you didn’t have – than we’ve created a fact issue regarding whether the employer’s stated reason for termination is the actual reason, or just pretext to mask race discrimination.
And – all of this assumes that your employer wasn’t dumb enough to make a racial comment, even indirectly. Sometimes employers do: they’ll use words like “ghetto,” or “urban” or other words to refer to African-Americans and black people (for example) – sometimes they won’t even do anything when co-workers use slurs like “n*gg*r.” These types of comments are called direct evidence. If we have direct evidence of discrimination, the case is even stronger.
For a legal consultation with a racial discrimination lawyer serving Minneapolis, call 612-349-2729
How Much is My Race Discrimination Case Worth?
This is absolutely a good question to ask as you make a decision on whether to pursue a case in court or not. Starting an employment case is a big decision and you should know what your potential return is for the investment of your time and energy.
The short answer is that the value of your case depends on a lot of things, like:
- the strength of your case on the merits;
- the amount of damages you’ve suffered;
- whether your employer has the ability to pay a large amount; and
- your tolerance for risk.
We get this question so much that we’ve created a separate, detailed page going through each of these factors, right here.
For employment race discrimination claims, you may be entitled to back pay and front pay damages, emotional distress compensation, treble damages under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, punitive damages under both the Minnesota Human Rights Act and Title VII, and your attorney fees and costs. You may even be entitled to get your job back.
Minneapolis Racial Discrimination Lawyer Near Me 612-349-2729
What’s an Average Settlement for a Race Discrimination Case?
That’s a tough question to answer because there’s really no “average” settlement. The value of an employment race discrimination case depends on the strength of the case; the damages the employee suffered; the ability of the employer to pay a large amount (if the employer is insured, even better); and the employee’s tolerance for risk and willingness to go to trial. Here’s a detailed breakdown of those factors.
But we know that many employees looking for answers right now just want to see some numbers from actual settlements, so here are some numbers.
- We represented an African-American line worker who was fired within a week of complaining about race discrimination. The case settled for $486,000 before any depositions.
- We represented a salesman who was Jewish by ethnicity. He overheard coworkers using terms like “Jew mother-f*cker” and “piece of sh*t Jew” in the hallways and made a complaint about it. After his complaint, management wrote him up for minor infractions 5 times within 2 months. He had never been written up before his complaint – this is called “papering the file.” We litigated through summary judgment; after the employer lost its motion, it paid $130,000 to settle the case.
Please note that just because these employees received the above results doesn’t mean that’s what your case is worth. These are just examples. Your case value depends on a number of things.
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What Should I do if I’ve Been the Victim of Race Discrimination at Work?
First of all, if you’re searching for answers right now after losing your job, we’re very sorry that you’re in this position. We know how tough it is to lose your job, especially when you’ve got family and other financial obligations. It’s especially frustrating and hurtful when the termination is discriminatory.
Second, make sure that take advantage of state benefits designed to help people going through tough times. Apply for unemployment benefits. And, contact COBRA to make sure you and your family are covered for health insurance.
Third, write everything down that happened to you. Write down the date that you were terminated, who terminated you, what they precisely said was the reason for your termination, and who else was present. Write down whether you think the reason your employer gave you was accurate or not, and why. Write down the names of employees that you think may have useful information. Write down the types of documents or emails that you think may have good information about your case. Write down everything – the reason for this is that your memory will probably fade over time and you want to document things while they’re fresh in your mind. If you pursue a lawsuit, your trial likely won’t be for at least 12 to 18 months, so you want to have something that you can refer to – write everything down.
Fourth, immediately send a letter or email request to your employer requesting your personnel file and the reason for your termination. Under Minnesota law, your employer needs to provide it to you. If your employer hasn’t paid you all of your wages or given you your last paycheck, make sure to request those wages in writing also (by letter or email).
Fifth, call us to talk about your case.
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What is the Statute of Limitations for a Racial Discrimination in Employment Case?
You need to move quickly on these. In Minnesota, you’ve got just one year from the date of the last discriminatory act (such as termination, suspension, reduced pay, or reduced hours) to bring a lawsuit or file a claim with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. You’ve only got 300 days from the date of the last act to file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, if you want to bring federal claims under Title VII.
Contact Our Race Discrimination Attorneys.
You must act quickly when it comes to employment claims. If you wait, there may be strict statutes of limitation that will bar you from filing any claim at all against your employer. Call Madia today to discuss your case.
First, contact our office and tell us about your situation. You’ll talk with our staff for about 5-10 minutes. They’ll get some basic information about you and your case.
There’s some information that we’ll need when you call. We will want to know who you worked for, what kind of work you did, for how long worked there, how much you earned, if/when you were terminated, the reason given by your employer for any discipline and termination, and why do you think your employer did something unlawful or wrongful. If you have this information handy, it will allow us to proceed more quickly.
We will get back to you shortly – usually within a few hours. If your potential case is a little outside of our wheelhouse, we may refer you to attorneys, agencies, or organizations that we think might be better suited to handle your situation. Our goal is to ensure you get the best and most appropriate help possible for your particular situation. If that’s not us, we’ll try to tell you immediately and point you in the right direction.
If we think that we might be able help you, we’ll set an appointment for you to talk with one of our employment lawyers. We’ll discuss your case, and give you our honest assessment of its strengths, weaknesses, and value. If we then mutually agree that Madia will represent you, we will talk about the process of moving forward with your case.
When you talk with our employment lawyers, please be sure to have all relevant documents that you have in your possession. For example, that could include: pay-stubs, personnel files, employment handbooks/policies, letters from your employer (including your termination letter), any text messages or emails that you think are important, and any other documents that you think might be helpful.
Call 612-349-2729 or complete a Case Evaluation form
