We Shall Overcome.

On February 26, 2020, couriers filed an overtime lawsuit against Associated Courier, Inc. d/b/a Street Fleet (“Street Fleet”). The couriers worked for the company delivering items such as auto parts and paperwork. The Complaint alleges Street Fleet misclassified couriers as independent contractors rather than employees and as a result did not pay them overtime compensation. The Complaint also details allegations of discriminatory treatment of immigrant and minority workers and retaliation toward couriers who lodged complaints with the company about its alleged unlawful practices.

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We previously wrote about our $1.2 million jury verdict in federal court in North Dakota on behalf of a physician who was terminated after he spoke out against his clinic’s discriminatory treatment of a colleague.  The Court has since ruled on both parties’ post-trial motions, and ultimately raised the award to $2.1 million.

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Bloomington police officers on duty at the Mall of America thought that Michael Jointer, an African American male, was someone else. They thought that he was another African American male named Leon Combs, who was on trespass at the mall. So they stopped Jointer and asked for his ID. (more…)

Aaron Benner started teaching at St. Paul Public Schools in 1995 and earned immediate praise for his outstanding results and devotion to students.  He earned tenure in 1999 and was nominated for Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2005.  He was the only black male teacher at Johnson Elementary during the 2014-15 school year.

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Mark Henderson was a hostage held at gunpoint in a room at the Woodbury Red Roof Inn on August 30, 2012.  He fled the room and approached Woodbury police officers with his hands raised.  He complied with their commands to get on the ground.  As he lay unarmed in a prone position approximately 10-12 feet in front of them, the officers shouted conflicting and contradictory commands that even they couldn’t hear or understand.  Within seconds, they opened fire and killed him.

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Dr. Robert Roswick worked as a family practice physician at Mid Dakota Clinic in Bismarck, North Dakota.  He felt that Mid Dakota’s CEO and Board of Directors were racially discriminating against an Indian-American colleague of his by pushing forward with termination without allowing the colleague the same due process rights afforded to other shareholders at the Clinic.

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(Minneapolis; March 7, 2019)—Alice James will join Attorney General Keith Ellison and Department of Human Rights (MDHR) Commissioner Rebecca Lucero in suing a plasma collection company for its discriminatory ban on donations by transgender persons.

In 2011, Ms. James began donating plasma at CSL Plasma locations in Minnesota. For nearly four years, CSL refused to acknowledge Ms. James’ gender identity. In 2015, CSL stopped allowing Ms. James to donate plasma, citing a company policy barring transgender persons from making such donations. That policy violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act. In 2016, Ms. James filed a discrimination complaint with the MDHR. That complaint led to the lawsuit filed this week by the MDHR and Attorney General.

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Madia Law’s Joshua Newville has been selected to serve on the Federal Practice Committee for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The Federal Practice Committee works with the Court to improve the administration of justice in Minnesota’s federal courts. Newville was nominated to the Committee in 2018 by United States District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz. Newville will serve on the Committee from January 2019 to December 2021.

Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers were free to discriminate against employees for almost any reason – whether it be their race, religion, or, of course, their gender.  Even after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, employers continued to post gender- (and race-) specific help-wanted ads:

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