Within 15 working days, ask your employer in writing for the reason; Minn. Stat. § 181.933 requires the truthful reason in writing within 10 working days. Pull your free Work Number report from Equifax and request your personnel file. Compare every reason given, since shifting explanations can show pretext. Talk to a lawyer before disputing the code or signing severance.
Yes. Request your free Employment Data Report at employees.theworknumber.com or by calling 866-604-6570. It shows your employment history as your employers reported it, and it lists every company that pulled your file in the past two years.
Yes, if you ask. Under Minn. Stat. § 181.933, an employee who was involuntarily terminated may request the reason in writing within 15 working days, and the employer must give the truthful reason in writing within 10 working days of the request.
On its own, a mismatch is one piece of evidence. Courts treat false or shifting explanations for a firing as evidence that the stated reason covers the real one. If you were fired after reporting discrimination, reporting a violation of law, or taking protected leave, a lawyer should see it.
Save a copy of the report first. If you believe the code was entered to punish you, talk to an employment lawyer before you file the dispute, because your employer’s response can become evidence and the wording matters.
A charge with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights generally must be filed within one year, and a charge with the EEOC within 300 days. Other claims, including under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, have their own deadlines.
Working in Illinois? Read what Illinois law adds when your Work Number file tells a different story.
Tell us what happened
We represent employees in Minnesota who were punished for doing the right thing: reporting discrimination or harassment, reporting violations of law, or taking protected leave. Most people who call us don’t use the word “retaliation.” They tell us what happened, and we find the claim inside the story. A separation code that doesn’t match what you were told is often where it starts.
Tell us what happened. The review is free and confidential, and an attorney reads it. Bring your Work Number report and anything else you have in writing. Our fee is a percentage of what we recover. If we recover nothing, you owe us nothing.
The story we hear most often in Minnesota follows the same pattern: you reported discrimination, harassment, or a violation of law. HR opened an investigation. A write-up or a bad review followed. Then you were terminated, and the reason you were given had nothing to do with your report.
Your employer probably wrote that reason down in one more place. Most large employers send their payroll data to The Work Number, an Equifax database that lenders, landlords, and employers use to verify jobs and income. Your file there likely includes a code for why you left. You can read it for free. And Minnesota gives you a tool most states don’t: the right to make your employer put the truthful reason in writing.
Your Work Number file is free to read
Request your Employment Data Report at employees.theworknumber.com or by calling 866-604-6570. It’s free once a year, and it lists every company that pulled your file in the past two years. Save a copy to a personal email or personal cloud account, off anything your employer owns. Our guide on how to freeze your Work Number file, fix errors, and see who pulled it covers the rest.
Your employer may have given different reasons for your termination
By the time you talk to a lawyer, your employer has usually given its reason several times: in the termination meeting, in your separation paperwork, to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development when you applied for unemployment, to The Work Number, and later in its response to a charge with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights or the EEOC. Different people wrote those at different times, usually before anyone expected a lawsuit.
When they don’t line up, that matters. The federal appeals court that covers Minnesota has said it directly: “False and shifting explanations for termination can be the basis for inferring discrimination” (Barber v. C1 Truck Driver Training, 8th Cir. 2011). The law calls this pretext, and it’s how most retaliation cases are proved, because employers rarely admit they fired someone for reporting. A Work Number code that says “voluntary resignation,” “misconduct,” or “position eliminated” when you were told something else is a document we want to see.
Most separation codes are accurate and dull. If yours matches what you were told, you’ve spent ten minutes and lost nothing, and the claim, if there is one, will show up somewhere else in your story.
If the code says misconduct and you weren’t a perfect employee, call anyway. Employers often start building a paper trail after someone speaks up. The messy parts of your story are often the evidence.
Minnesota lets you demand the truthful reason in writing within 15 working days
If you were fired in Minnesota, you may ask your employer in writing, within 15 working days of the termination, for the reason. The employer must give you the truthful reason in writing within 10 working days of your request (Minn. Stat. § 181.933).
That letter is one more statement to compare against the Work Number code, the unemployment file, and everything the company says later. Keep the request short: your name, your dates of employment, the date you were terminated, and one sentence asking for the reason under Minnesota Statutes section 181.933. Send it in a way you can prove, and keep a copy. The 15-day window closes fast. Send it this week.
You can also get your personnel file and answer what’s in it
Most Minnesota employers must give a former employee a copy of the personnel file within 7 working days of a written request, or 14 if the records are kept outside Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 181.961). If the file contains something you dispute and the employer won’t correct it, you may submit a written statement of up to five pages. The employer must keep it with the disputed information and include it whenever that information is shared (Minn. Stat. § 181.962).
Three documents in one week: your Work Number report, your personnel file, and the written reason. Together they show what the company wrote down internally and what it told everyone else. Our checklist of evidence to collect before filing an employment claim covers what else to gather.
Minnesota protects the reports that lead to these firings
Minnesota law protects you if you report, in good faith, a suspected violation of law to your employer or a government body (Minnesota Whistleblower Act, Minn. Stat. § 181.932). Read more about whistleblower protection in Minnesota. The Minnesota Human Rights Act separately prohibits reprisal against people who oppose discrimination or harassment, including by reporting it internally. Taking protected medical or parenting leave is protected too.
Deadlines apply. A charge with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights generally must be filed within one year, and a charge with the EEOC within 300 days. Other claims have their own clocks. Don’t wait to find out which one applies to you.
Save the report before you dispute anything, and call before you sign anything
You can dispute inaccurate information with The Work Number, and Equifax must reinvestigate within 30 days, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If the code looks like punishment, talk to a lawyer before you file the dispute. Your employer’s response becomes evidence too, and the wording of your dispute matters.
If you’ve been handed a severance agreement, read your report before you sign it. Severance agreements almost always include a release of your claims, and they come with deadlines. Call us first.
Retaliation can continue after your last day
Federal law protects former employees from retaliation. The U.S. Supreme Court settled the point in Robinson v. Shell Oil Co., 519 U.S. 337 (1997), a case about a negative reference given after the employee filed an EEOC charge. If your separation code changes after you file a charge or hire a lawyer, that change may be a new act of retaliation. Pull your report again in six months and compare.
Follow these steps after termination
- Send the written request for the truthful reason within 15 working days of your firing.
- Pull your Work Number report and save a copy to a personal account.
- Request your personnel file.
- Compare every reason you’ve been given, out loud and in writing.
- Call a lawyer before you dispute the code or sign a severance agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Can I find out what my employer told The Work Number about why I left?
Yes. Request your free Employment Data Report at employees.theworknumber.com or by calling 866-604-6570. It shows your employment history as your employers reported it, and it lists every company that pulled your file in the past two years.
Does a Minnesota employer have to tell me why I was fired?
Yes, if you ask. Under Minn. Stat. § 181.933, an employee who was involuntarily terminated may request the reason in writing within 15 working days, and the employer must give the truthful reason in writing within 10 working days of the request.
Is it retaliation if the reason my employer gave The Work Number differs from what I was told?
On its own, a mismatch is one piece of evidence. Courts treat false or shifting explanations for a firing as evidence that the stated reason covers the real one. If you were fired after reporting discrimination, reporting a violation of law, or taking protected leave, a lawyer should see it.
Should I dispute my termination reason with The Work Number?
Save a copy of the report first. If you believe the code was entered to punish you, talk to an employment lawyer before you file the dispute, because your employer’s response can become evidence and the wording matters.
How long do I have to file a retaliation charge in Minnesota?
A charge with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights generally must be filed within one year, and a charge with the EEOC within 300 days. Other claims, including under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, have their own deadlines.
Working in Illinois? Read what Illinois law adds when your Work Number file tells a different story.
Tell us what happened
We represent employees in Minnesota who were punished for doing the right thing: reporting discrimination or harassment, reporting violations of law, or taking protected leave. Most people who call us don’t use the word “retaliation.” They tell us what happened, and we find the claim inside the story. A separation code that doesn’t match what you were told is often where it starts.
Tell us what happened. The review is free and confidential, and an attorney reads it. Bring your Work Number report and anything else you have in writing. Our fee is a percentage of what we recover. If we recover nothing, you owe us nothing.
