Brainerd-based ice house company Glacier has been ordered to pay $115,000 after firing an employee who took leave for cancer treatment. (Supplied)
BRAINERD, Minn. (FOX 9) - Timberland Inc., doing business as Glacier Ice House, has agreed to pay $115,000 to a former employee after the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) found the company discriminated and retaliated against them because of a disability.
Worker fired during cancer treatment
What we know:
MDHR says that in 2023, a Glacier employee took disability leave to receive cancer treatment.
However, while the worker was on leave, company leaders ended their employment as part of widespread layoffs, while other workers without disabilities were allowed to move into open positions within the company.
In multiple conversations with the employee, company leaders brought up the worker's medical condition as a factor in the employment decision, MDHR says.
Dig deeper:
Under Minnesota law, employers cannot discriminate against employees because of a disability. The law also prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for taking disability leave.
As part of the settlement with MDHR, Glacier must pay the employee $115,000 and "strengthen its policies and training related to employees with disabilities," an announcement says.
The company is also required to submit compliance reports twice a year, which MDHR will monitor for three years.
What they're saying:
"No Minnesotan should have to choose between fighting cancer and fighting for their job. Yet that's exactly what happened when a worker took disability leave to receive cancer treatment," Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in a statement accompanying the announcement. "Instead of being met with dignity, they were met with discrimination… This settlement reflects Minnesota's commitment to building a state where everyone can lead lives of dignity."
Big picture view:
According to its website, Glacier Ice House describes itself as a Brainerd-based manufacturer of ice houses built from the "strongest and most reliable" materials available, made by a workforce of "skilled craftsmen in Minnesota."
The Source: Information provided by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.