Nothing on this page is advice about your job, and no article can be. If you want your own facts looked at, a Minnesota employment attorney can do that — and several of the deadlines described on this site are short enough that waiting is itself a decision.
Also called: penalizing; whistleblower retaliation.
“Penalize” means conduct that might dissuade a reasonable employee from making or supporting a report, including post-termination conduct by an employer or conduct by an employer for the benefit of a third party.
Minn. Stat. § 181.931, subd. 5, new in Laws 2013, ch. 83, § 2. The measure is what would dissuade a reasonable employee, so the definition reaches well past discharge. Two extensions are written in rather than left to inference: conduct after the employment has already ended, and conduct an employer directs at a third party’s benefit — a bad word to a prospective employer, for instance, is not outside the term merely because the job was already over.
Where this comes up
- Minnesota's Whistleblower Act Protects a Report of a Legal Violation — Not Every Complaint About a Boss
- A Minnesota employer may say far more in a reference than dates of employment — including documented theft, harassment, or violence — and § 181.967 is a shield for the employer, not a gag rule
- Was My Firing Illegal? Minnesota's Honest Answer Is Usually No, and the Exceptions Are a Short, Specific List
Sources checked September 8, 2026. Citations independently verified against the primary source September 8, 2026.