Apr
9

Initiating Minnesota Wage Claims

The vast majority of employers pay employees on time and using proper calculations. Of course, problems can and do arise in this area. When an employer fails to pay, or calculates pay incorrectly, the consequences can be rather severe if the employer does not take quick action to correct the problem. This post will briefly outline a few of the most common ways an employee may initiate wage claims against an employer in Minnesota.

Informal Notice and Demand for Wages

For a terminated or laid-off employee, wages earned at the time of discharge are immediately due to an employee upon demand....

Apr
9

Justice Scalia's Death: What It Means for United States v. Texas

The Supreme Court of the United States is set to decide United States v. Texas, the case regarding the constitutionality of President Obama's new immigration policies, in June 2016. When Antonin Scalia---one of the nine Justices on the Supreme Court---passed away, the outcome of this monumental case became more uncertain.

President Obama proposed a new immigration policy in November 2014. The name of these programs is expanded DACA (expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of American and Lawful Permanent Residents). These programs would allow...

Apr
9

Counting Hours Worked for Child Support - Not All Hours Are the Same

In Minnesota, the child support amount the court orders a person to to pay is a function of several economic factors. These factors include both parent’s gross monthly income, the costs of medical and dental insurance for your joint child(ren), any non-joint children living in either home, the cost of child care, and the amount of time that the joint child(ren) spends with each parent. A judge or child support magistrate enters these factors into the Minnesota Child Support Calculator to determine a child support obligation. Although plugging numbers into the Minnesota Child Support...

Apr
9

Expungement – once a felony, always a felony

In January 2015, a new expungement standard came into effect in Minnesota. The law expanded the types of crimes eligible for expungement.  It also gave courts broader power to seal records of State agencies instead of limiting the court to sealing its records anymore.

As with any new law, there were some gaps that left lawyers and judges with questions. The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently answered one of the big questions: how should the court treat felony convictions later deemed misdemeanors under Minn. Stat. § 609.13, subd. 1(2).  The question was how should the court treat the...

Apr
9

Solicitation of Prostitution – Morality Meets Deportation

Solicitation of Prostitution –  Morality Meets Deportation

The immigration consequences of a conviction for solicitation of a prostitute for several decades was not considered categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (hereinafter “CIMT”), although Wilson Law Group cautioned that it was potentially such a crime.  Recently, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in Gomez-Gutierrez v. Lynch definitively categorizing the 2006 version of the Minnesota solicitation of a prostitute statute as a CIMT. No. 14-3374, 2016 WL 362427, at*4 (8th Cir. Jan. 29, 2016).

Gomez-Gutierrez means that...