Discrimination

Two bills that would alleviate gender-based discrimination and make compensation more transparent passed the U.S. House on Friday. The Lilly Ledbetter Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act passed roughly down party lines, with Democrats claiming the bills would make the workplace more equitable for all workers and Republicans complaining that the bills would be a boon to trial lawyers.

Minnesota’s congressional delegation voted for the bills except for Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline and Erik Paulsen.

A Minnesota appeals court judge upheld a ruling that found it legal for the Rochester Athletic Club to deny a family membership to a lesbian couple because the couple is not married. The case spotlights an instance where Minnesota anti-discrimination laws — some of the toughest in the country — are ineffective so long as same-sex couples cannot marry.

Amy and Sarah Monson are not backing down from their assertion that a failure to grant the couple a family membership at the Rochester Athletic Club is discrimination. On Dec. 31, the couple filed papers with the Olmsted County District Court to start the appeal of a November lower court decision that found the policies [...]

Over the past three years Pastor Danny Barnes has found himself in the Traverse County jail several times for various scuffles with people in the small Minnesota town of Wheaton, near the South Dakota border. But his latest arrest is validating his worst nightmare: that, as one of handful of blacks in the town, the [...]