Minnesota Supreme Court Clarifies Scope of Expungement Statute
The Minnesota Supreme Court has now clarified certain aspects of Minnesota’s expungement law. The issue is whether a criminal felony conviction, not able to be expunged on its own, can nonetheless be expunged if the conviction was deemed to be a misdemeanor under Minnesota law. One side of the argument says the answer is “yes” because the conviction is for a misdemeanor. The other side of the argument says the answer is “no” because the person was originally convicted of a felony. The Minnesota Supreme Court answered this question with a “no” – there is no opportunity for expungement of... Read More
Farrish Johnson Law Office Welcomes New Attorney
Farrish Johnson Law Office is pleased to announce the addition of our new attorney, Yuri Jelokov. Yuri focuses his practice in the areas of workers’ compensation law, Social Security disability law, and vaccine claims. After obtaining his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN, Yuri spent several years practicing in Minneapolis, MN,as well as Bemidji, MN. Yuri has dedicated many hours to workers’ compensation litigation, from initial consultations, to settlement negotiations and trials. Yuri is actively involved in the Minnesota Association for Justice. A native of Tallinn, Estonia, Yuri speaks both English and Russian. For... Read More
Rights for Minnesota Nursing Mothers
Minnesota law protects nursing mothers both inside and outside of the workplace. Mothers may breast-feed in any location, public or private, so long as the mother and child are authorized to be in that location. This generally includes places like parks, malls, stores, and restaurants. Minnesota law gives breast-feeding mothers additional rights in the workplace. Reasonable, unpaid break times must be given to an employee who needs to express breast milk. And reasonable efforts must be made to provide nursing mothers with a private room or other location – not a bathroom or toilet stall – to do so. The... Read More
Thank You-Furniture for Flood Families was a Success!
We would like to take a moment to thank everyone that made Furniture for Flood Families a success. Thank you to our partners: Madison East Center, Troy Volk and Volk Transfer, Inc., Paragon Printing, Mailing and Specialties, Redline Signworks, and Lime Valley Advertising. Thank you to all of the area churches, schools, and businesses that supported Furniture for Flood Families from beginning to end. Thank you to the students from Mankato West, Mankato East, and Loyola, who dedicated their Saturday to helping our neighbors. Thank you to our staff at FJLO who took this project head on and with great... Read More
Minnesota Employees Must Be Given Time Off for Voting
Election Day is right around the corner. The Attorneys at Farrish Johnson Law Office want to remind everyone – employees and employers alike – that Minnesota law requires employers to give their employees reasonable time off for voting. Any employee who is eligible to vote has the right to be absent from work for the time necessary to go to the polling place, cast a ballot, and return to work, without penalty and without deduction from salary or wages because of the absence. In other words, the employee may vote during the work day without being required to “punch out.” ... Read More
Undisclosed Wet Basement – What Can You Do?
The recent above average rainfall has resulted in a number of wet basements in southern Minnesota. What are your options if you recently purchased a home and the prior owner did not disclose any trouble with a wet basement? In Minnesota homeowners are required to provide certain disclosures to potential purchasers of their home. The disclosure must include all material facts that the seller knows about that could adversely and significantly affect the use and enjoyment of the property. If the seller knew about water intrusion issues and failed to disclose, then the buyer may have an actionable claim under... Read More
Local Event Aims to Provide Furniture for Area Flood Victims
MANKATO, Minn.— In response to the impact that heavy rains and flooding have had on residents of Waseca, St. Clair and other local communities, a group churches, schools and area businesses have to come together and established an event to help area flood victims. The event, Furniture for Flood Families, is geared at soliciting donations of well-cared-for furniture to help those that have lost items to flood waters. According to one local organizer, Scott Kelly of the Farrish Johnson Law Office in Mankato, the event is focused on neighbors helping neighbors. He said, “Some of these families have suffered significant... Read More
Farrish Johnson Law Office Hosts Reception for Justice Natalie Hudson
Today from 4pm to 5:30pm, Farrish Johnson Law Office will host a reception for Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson. Meet and hear from Justice Hudson ahead of the November 8 election and join friends and colleagues to support the reelection of Justice Hudson to the Minnesota Supreme Court. For more information about this special event, please contact Farrish Johnson Law Office at 507-625-2525.
New Federal Overtime Rule is Fast Approaching
A new federal overtime rule goes into effect on December 1, 2016. The rule raises the Fair Labor Standards Act salary threshold for those white-collar employees who are exempt from overtime from $455/week ($23,660) to $913/week ($47,476.00). This means that an employee who makes less than $47,476.00 per year must be paid overtime. There are plenty of options to ensure compliance with this new rule. For example, an employer can (1) raise the employee’s salary to the threshold to keep from paying overtime; (2) keep the employee’s salary the same but limit the employee’s hours to 40 hours per week;... Read More
Estate Taxes Still an Issue
With the federal estate tax beginning for estates in excess of $5.4 million, most families no longer concern themselves with avoiding the imposition of this tax. However, Minnesota residences or non-residences with Minnesota property still face Minnesota taxes for estates that exceed $1.6 million. Do not assume that estate planning is no longer necessary simply because of the size of the federal exemption. There are a number of planning opportunities for families to avoid or minimize Minnesota estate tax. For more information on Estate Taxes and Estate Planning, contact Steve Fink at Farrish Johnson Law Office. This webpage contains general... Read More