Opinion
A19-1561
07-13-2021
Whitney HINRICHS-CADY, Respondent, v. HENNEPIN COUNTY, Appellant.
ORDER
On June 30, 2020, the court granted the petition for further review filed by appellant Hennepin County. The main issue on which we granted review was whether a person who has worked for an employer for less than 12 months may assert a claim under the pregnancy-accommodations statute, Minn. Stat. § 181.9414 (2020). The court of appeals held that a person is not required to meet the 12-month tenure requirement in the statutory definition of "employee," Minn. Stat. § 181.940, subd. 2 (2020), to assert a claim for the denial of reasonable pregnancy accommodations. Hinrichs-Cady v. Hennepin County , 943 N.W.2d 417, 423 (Minn. App. 2020) ; see Minn. Stat. § 181.940, subd. 2 (defining "employee" to mean, in relevant part, "a person who performs services for hire for an employer from whom a leave is requested under sections 181.940 to 181.944 for: (1) at least 12 months preceding the request ..."). The court of appeals concluded that the 12-month tenure requirement does not apply when a pregnant woman requests "non-leave accommodations." Hinrichs-Cady , 943 N.W.2d at 422.
During the 2021 Special Session, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Omnibus Jobs and Economic Growth Finance and Policy Bill, S.F. 9, which moved the provisions of the pregnancy-accommodations statute, as revised, to the nursing mother's statute, Minn. Stat. § 181.939 (2020), effective January 1, 2022. Act of June 30, 2021, ch. 10, art. 3, § 3, 2021 Minn. Session Law Serv. Sp. Sess. ––––, –––– (to be codified at Minn. Stat. § 181.939, subd. 2 ). In the same act, the Legislature repealed the pregnancy-accommodations statute, Minn. Stat. § 181.9414, effective January 1, 2022. Act of June 30, 2021, ch. 10, art. 3, § 22, 2021 Minn. Session Law Serv. Sp. Sess. ––––, ––––. As a result, the pregnancy-accommodations provisions will no longer fall within the range of statutes subject to the statutory definition of "employee" in Minn. Stat. § 181.940, subd. 2. See Minn. Stat. § 181.940, subd. 1 (2020) ("For the purposes of sections 181.940 to 181.944, the terms defined in this section have the meanings given them."). Although these amendments do not make the appeal before the court moot, these changes in the law significantly limit the impact of a decision by the court in this case.
Based upon all the files, records, and proceedings herein,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the order of June 30, 2020, granting the petition for further review of Hennepin County be, and the same is, vacated as improvidently granted, and the appeal is dismissed.