Four secuirty guards who were employed by the City of Minneapolis recently won a lawsuit against the City in which they argued they could not be fired under a 1903 law designed to prevent political patronage in city employment. In reading the article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, it reminded me how few protections most of us have to our jobs. When civil servants are required to go back to a law passed in 1903 in order to protect their jobs, you realize just how lopsided the power dynamic is between employer and employee.
Employment in Minnesota is generally "at-will," which means that your employer can let you go for almost any reason or no reason at all. Your length of service, good performance or loyalty to your employer does not entitle you to any additional rights to keep your job.
Your "at-will" employment status may be modified in some instances by an employment contract that guarantees you will be employed for a specific period of time or that states you may only be fired "for cause." It also may also be modified by other contracts such as your union's Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, the vast majority of us in Minnesota are employees at-will and have no meaningful job protections.
There are, of course, limited exceptions to the at-will employment doctrine that apply to all of us. It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against you in Minnesota because of your sex, age, race, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, taking certain leaves of absence and other protected classes. It is also illegal in some instances for an employer to terminate your employment in retaliation for reporting a violation of your civil rights or other illegalities.
This article reminds us that none of us should take our jobs for granted. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your employment rights, please feel free to contact me or my firm. We are happy to answer your questions.
