Marital Status Discrimination
Minnesota state law provides broader protections than federal law in the context of employment anti-discrimination. Another arena where this is the case is in the context of an employee’s marital status.
In Minnesota, it is illegal for an employer to take the following actions against an employee when the action is “motivated in part by” the employee’s marital status:
- refuse to hire or to maintain a system of employment which unreasonably excludes a person seeking employment; or
- discharge an employee; or
- discriminate against a person with respect to hiring, tenure, compensation, terms, upgrading, conditions, facilities, or privileges of employment.
Under the law, “marital status” means whether a person is single, married, remarried, divorced, separated, or a surviving spouse and, in employment cases, includes protection against discrimination on the basis of the identity, situation, actions, or beliefs of a spouse or former spouse.
That means an employer cannot fire you because of who your spouse is or what your spouse has done or what your spouse believes.
If you have reason to believe you’ve experienced workplace discrimination because of your marital status, we’ve available to help.