Minnesota and Minneapolis Minimum Wages Set to Increase
On January 1, 2018, Minnesota’s minimum wage will increase. The increase is state-wide and affects all employees who are notexempted from the state’s minimum wage law. Some employers in Minneapolis will face a separate increase related to a recent city ordinance that also goes into effect January 1, 2018. Minnesota Minimum Wage Following January 1, […]
Municipal Non-Compete Ordinances – Could it Happen in Minnesota?
Two employment law topics I follow closely, non-competes and city rule-making in the area of employment law, intersected this summer when it was announced that New York City is considering a local law restricting non-compete agreements. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of city rule-making in the area of employment law, as well […]
8th Circuit Ruling on Iowa Non-Competes Raises Interesting Implications
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently weighed in on Iowa law regarding non-competes, and its holding has interesting implications for attorneys in Iowa, and in other states like Minnesota. In Ag Spectrum Co. v. Elder, 865 F.3d 1088 (8th Cir. 2017), the Court held that enforceability and reasonableness of a non-compete provision is a […]
An Employee’s Duty of Loyalty Under Minnesota Law
Every employee owes his or her employer a duty of loyalty, even in the absence of a non-compete agreement or other restrictive covenant. But what constitutes a breach of the common law duty of loyalty can be a murky question and depends on the facts. As the Minnesota Court of Appeals noted in Rehabilitation Specialists, […]
Trepanier And Ella Author Piece For State Bar Publication On Minnesota Drug Testing Law; Team Up To Speak On Same Topic
TMB Shareholders Craig W. Trepanier and V. John Ella have written an article for the September 2017 issue of Bench and Bar, the monthly magazine published by the Minnesota State Bar Association. The article is entitled Three Decades of DATWA and discusses recent developments and case law regarding Minnesota’s statute governing employer testing of applicants and employees […]
Minnesota Supreme Court Weighs In On Whistleblower Act
On August 9, 2017, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the 2013 amendments to the Minnesota Whistleblower Act (“MWA”) were specifically intended by the Minnesota legislature to counter previous court decisions that had limited the scope of the MWA. Friedlander v. Edwards Lifesciences, LLC, No. A16-1916 (August 9, 2017). The legislature added a definition of […]
Surprising Non-Compete Decision from Minnesota Court of Appeals Enforces “Boilerplate” Remedies Clause
Update: On June 27, 2018, the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the decision made by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, discussed below. To read the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision, click the following link: Minnesota Supreme Court Holds a Non-Compete Agreement Cannot Mandate an Injunction. A surprising decision from the Minnesota Court of Appeals suggests that a […]
Four TMB Attorneys Named as Super Lawyers or as Rising Star
Four Trepanier MacGillis Battina attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2017 Minnesota Super Lawyers® magazine. TMB shareholder James C. MacGillis has been named as a Super Lawyer in the area of Business/Corporate Law. TMB shareholders Craig W. Trepanier and V. John Ella have been named Super Lawyers in the areas of Employment & […]
The Blue Pencil Doctrine in Minnesota
Minnesota is among those states that has adopted the “blue-pencil doctrine” which allows a judge to modify the terms of a non-compete or other restrictive covenant as an alternative to either enforcing the clause as is, or not enforcing it. Under the blue pencil doctrine as applied in Minnesota, “a district court that finds a […]
Trade Secret Dispute Between Waymo and Uber Offers Lessons
A legal blow up between two tech titans in California (Waymo, LLC, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet on the one side, and Uber Technologies, Inc. on the other side) demonstrates the danger posed whenever an employee leaves a company with confidential files. The dispute ignited when Uber hired Anthony Levandowski, a former “star engineer” […]