On 4/5/17 the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a Minnesota Court of Appeals case in favor of a pregnant job applicant. In LaPoint v. Family Orthodontics, P.A., a pregnant women did not disclose her pregnancy during an initial job interview. The woman was offered the job by the owner of the business. Thereafter, the woman asked about how long maternity leave would be. In response to the question about maternity leave, the owner of the business withdrew the job offer. The woman filed a lawsuit alleging a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. The Minnesota Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on sex and does not allow a prospective employer to ask about the pregnancy status of a job applicant. The business owner testified that she had two reasons to withdraw the job offer. The first reason was because the woman did not disclose the fact she was pregnant during the job interview. The second reason was because the woman wanted 12 weeks of maternity leave and the employer only offered 6 weeks of maternity leave. The trial court had found in favor of the employer finding that the employer did not discriminate based on the sex of the woman. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and found that the employer did discriminate against the woman. The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals in a split decision and sent the case back to the trial court because it was not sure the trial court interpreted the law correctly.
Who is in the right?
Apr 7, 2017