ST. PAUL, MN - Alexandria Light and Power will pay $65,000 to resolve a Minnesota Department of Human Rights' finding of probable cause that discrimination occurred related to the termination of its former Information Technology administrator.
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights announced Alexandria Light and Power will pay its former Information Technology administrator Richard Hinrichs $65,000 to resolve alleged discrimination that began after Hinrichs' leg was amputated and continued through his discharge 10 months later.
Disability discrimination and retaliation are two of the most common claims that MDHR investigates. /mdhr/assets/mdhr_legislative_report_july2014_tcm1061-229699.pdfFrom January to June of 2014, 30 percent of the cases the Department investigated were Disability discrimination charges and 19 percent were reprisal charges.
"Next year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act," said Commissioner Kevin Lindsey. "All employers must ensure that their management staff is knowledgeable about providing necessary, medically required reasonable accommodations for their employees with disabilities."
As alleged in the Charge of Discrimination, while Hinrichs was recovering during his medical leave, an Alexandria Light and Power manager revised Hinrichs' job description to require the ability to climb ladders and crawl into tight spaces and then told Hinrichs that in order to return to work he would have to meet all of the requirements of the new job description.
After Hinrichs' attorney sent a letter to Alexandria Power and Light requesting that these newly added elements of the revised job description be removed, Alexandria Light and Power revised the job description. However, the Department's investigation found that Alexandria Light and Power subjected Hinrichs to differential treatment by asking coworkers to secretly monitor his work and forcing him to document and report on menial tasks.
The MDHR probable cause determination stated, "One witness described the way in which the … manager treated (Hinrichs) compared to how he treated his other employees as 'pathetic.'"
Six months later, after a written warning letter was sent, Hinrichs' manager informed him that he had a choice of voluntarily retiring or being terminated. In less than seven months, after returning to work, Hinrichs was no longer employed by Alexandria Light and Power.
If you believe you have been discriminated against and you are an individual with a disability or another protected class under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, you can contact MDHR's enforcement unit at: 651.539.1100 or online at mn.gov/mdhr/intake. For more information about disability discrimination and retaliation in employment, visit mn.gov/mdhr or follow the conversation on Twitter at @mnhumanrights. A video featuring comments from Commissioner Lindsey on the case and on disability discrimination is available on the Department's YouTube site.
###
Contact: Christine Dufour at 651-539-1118
or christine.dufour@state.mn.us
Minnesota Department of Human Rights, Communications Department
Freeman Building, 625 Robert Street North, Saint Paul, MN 55155