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Minnesota AG details wage‑theft enforcement, recent suits and recoveries
Summary
Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office created a wage‑theft division in 2019 and has returned more than $2 million to workers through enforcement, citing recent lawsuits against Evergreen Acres, Shipt and other firms.
Attorney General Keith Ellison told the Commerce and Finance Policy Committee on March 11 that his office created a dedicated wage‑theft division in 2019 after the legislature granted new authority, and that the division has recovered more than $2,000,000 in improperly withheld wages for Minnesota workers.
Ellison described typical wage‑theft practices his office prosecutes: paying below minimum wage, off‑the‑clock work, unpaid overtime, unlawful paycheck deductions, failure to provide final pay, and misclassifying employees as independent contractors. He said wage theft harms both workers and law‑abiding employers.
Recent cases Ellison cited: - Evergreen Acres (dairy employer): suit alleges systematic shaving of regular and overtime hours, unlawful deductions for substandard on‑site housing and failure to pay wages at termination. - Shipt (2022): lawsuit alleging misclassification of shoppers as independent contractors rather than employees entitled to wage and hour protections. - A 2023 suit against a downtown Saint Paul landowner alleging use of subsidiaries to avoid paying overtime to security officers.
Ellison said the wage‑theft division was created with bipartisan legislative support and that the office sues when investigations uncover systemic employer misconduct. The division’s recoveries to date exceed $2 million, he said, and it works in tandem with agency investigations where appropriate.
