Minnesota Employers May See Fewer Retaliation Claims after U.S. Supreme Court Decision if State Courts Follow Suit

Minnesota’s Supreme Court and its Court of Appeals have long followed federal cases in interpreting state civil rights laws analogous to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (the federal anti-discrimination law), such as the Minnesota Human Rights Act and Minnesota’s Whistleblower Act. Thus, in retaliation cases, an aggrieved employee needed to prove only that the employer’s retaliatory motive was a “discernible, discriminatory, and causative” factor in the adverse employment decision. Graham v. Special School District No. 1, 472 N.W.2d 114 (Minn. 1991). This may be changing.