Employment Law

Raboin & Francis has been practicing employment law for over 30 years.

When looking for an attorney who handles employment law cases in out-state Minnesota, you will quickly find there aren’t many choices. Attorneys who practice employment law, particularly from the employee prospective, are rare. Raboin & Francis has been practicing employment law for over 30 years. While several companies keep us on retainer to handle their employment law issues from the employer perspective, the vast majority of our employment law work is from the employee side. Much of our work involves representing employees who have been wrongfully terminated or who have experienced sexual discrimination and/or sexual harassment.

Many employees in Minnesota are considered “at will.” This means they can be fired for just about any reason or no reason at all. However, there are several exceptions to the “at will” doctrine:

  • Workers’ Compensation discrimination – an employee may not be fired or retaliated against in the workplace environment because the employee has filed a Workers’ Compensation claim due to an injury that occurred on the job.
  • Whistleblower violation – an employee may not be terminated or retaliated against in the workplace environment because they have reported to either their supervisor or law enforcement that their company is doing something illegal.
  • Discrimination – an employee may also not be terminated because of their status in a protected class. This includes not being retaliated against for reporting an instance of discrimination. The protected classes are: age, race, gender (this includes sexual harassment which is a form of sex discrimination), marital status, pregnancy, disability, and sexual orientation.
  • Breach of contract – in some instances an employee may have increased their job security by entering into an employment agreement which would modify their “at will” status and make it more difficult for the individual to be terminated unless the employer can prove "just cause" or "good cause" for the termination. Union members with collective-bargaining agreements frequently have this additional protection.

Raboin & Francis also routinely handles claims involving Fair Labor Standards Act violations and Family Medical Leave Act violations.

We are also often called upon to either negotiate or evaluate employment agreements or separation agreements. We charge $250 an hour for the initial consultation in employment law cases. Please feel free to give us a call if you are seeking advice in this area.

The attorneys at Raboin & Francis are here to help.