Minnesota Workers Unable to Seek Penalties Under State Wage Law

Individual workers can’t recover statutory penalties under the Minnesota Payment of Wages Act for failure to pay overtime, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, upholding a lower court’s finding that the law reserves enforcement solely to the state.

The decision from the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is mostly a loss for Bruce Cohen, who appealed a lower court ruling that he couldn’t recover under the law or seek civil penalties under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act and the Minnesota Wage Theft Act.

Handing workers a private right of action to seek penalties under the state ...