Madia Represents Victims of Employment Retaliation
You are protected from retaliation by your employer if you report discrimination. It is illegal under Minnesota and federal statutes for an employer to terminate you or otherwise change the conditions of your employment because of your decision to report discrimination. It takes guts to tell an employer that something is not right at work, and Title VII and the Minnesota Human Rights Act law protect you from retaliation for your complaints. Employers cannot change any condition of your employment or discipline you in any way because of your good faith reports of discrimination.
Representative Cases
Whistleblower retaliation results in $2.4 million settlement.
We represented a physician named “Mark” in a wrongful termination case brought under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act. The case settled before trial for $2.4 million.
Administrators at Mark’s clinic told him that they wanted to hire a female physician to work alongside him, in the same practice area. But they wanted to pay her less than him. Mark objected and said, “You can’t do that. That’s gender discrimination. It’s wrong, and it’s illegal.” The administrators responded, “Don’t tell anyone.”
Mark’s conscience wouldn’t allow him to obey that directive. He told the prospective female recruit the truth.
The clinic’s administrators found out. They decided to fire Mark. But they had no reason to do so, so they tried to make some up. They asked the clinic’s general counsel to approach a rank and file employee and direct her to send an email complaining about Mark’s conduct. Fearing for her own job, the employee did so. The clinic then used that email to justify terminating Mark.
Mark found another firm first to litigate his case. They refused to do it on a contingency basis, and took a lot of his money very early on. Thankfully, Mark found us. We brought a claim on his behalf against the clinic under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, which prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for raising concerns about suspected violations of the law.
This was hard fought litigation over 3 years. The clinic fought everything that they could and admitted nothing. They asserted counterclaims against Mark. But it all fell apart when we took the “complaining” employee’s deposition. She started to admit what happened, and defense counsel immediately called for a break and moved the Court to stop the deposition. The Court rightfully refused to do so. The employee then bravely told the truth, exposing the clinic’s scheme.
The case settled shortly thereafter for $2.4 million. Employers will generally pay large sums to avoid trial. It was an honor to represent Mark, who had the guts to stand up and do the right thing when most wouldn’t.
Retaliation for race discrimination complaint results in $1.2 million jury verdict.
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.
So Dr. Roswick took action. He emailed his fellow shareholders, gave them the factual basis as to why he believed the bylaws weren’t being followed, and told them he believed that their colleague was a victim of racism. Mid Dakota’s CEO and Board promptly retaliated: they suspended Dr. Roswick’s employment and moved for his termination. At his termination meeting, Board members openly told shareholders that “The reason we are here today is that Dr. Roswick raised this complaint of discrimination and made that known.” The shareholders approved Dr. Roswick’s termination from Mid Dakota.
We took this case to trial and won a $1.2 million verdict. Read more here.
Retaliation for race discrimination complaint results in $486,000 settlement.
We represented an African American line worker, “John,” who endured a hostile work environment based on his race for almost a year. His coworkers called him race-based slurs, played pranks on him, and even punched him. When John complained about it to HR, he was fired.
The case settled early in litigation for nearly half a million dollars.
Retaliation for race discrimination complaint settles for $186,000.
One of “Kyle’s” co-workers used a racial slur when referring to African Americans. Kyle reported it to HR via an email, and was terminated 2 days later.
The case settled early in litigation for $186,000.
Retaliation for complaints about anti-Semitic slurs settles for $130,000.
“Sam” worked as a salesman for several years at the same company. On occasion, he heard his supervisor and colleagues use anti-Semitic slurs in the workplace. Sam sent a very polite email stating that he had family members who had died in the Holocaust and would like it if the comments stopped. All of a sudden, Sam’s employer began targeting him at work. He was disciplined six times within the next eight weeks, even though he had not been disciplined a single time over six years of employment before his complaint. Ultimately, Sam’s employer fired him.
Madia represented Sam in an action for retaliation under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. After nearly a year and a half of litigation, Sam’s employer settled for $130,000.
Please note that every case is different, with its own unique facts. Just because these cases settled in a particular way does not mean that your case will be the same. You should contact Madia to discuss your retaliation case in detail and get an accurate assessment of its value.
You May Be Entitled to Lost Wages, Punitive Damages, Emotional Distress Compensation, and Even Your Old Job Back
If you have been the victim of retaliation, you may be entitled to back pay and front pay damages, reinstatement to your job, emotional distress compensation, treble damages under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, punitive damages under Title VII, and your attorney fees and costs.
Contact Our Employment Retaliation Lawyers Today
You must act quickly when it comes to filing a claim for retaliation. There are very strict statutes of limitation that will bar you from filing your claim if you wait too long. Call Madia Law today to discuss your case.
