The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that the Attorney General’s wage theft claims against Madison Equities, a downtown St. Paul landowner, can proceed in Ramsey County district court. The decision reverses earlier lower court rulings and allows the Attorney General to pursue allegations that Madison Equities failed to pay overtime wages to security officers at several properties.
The Supreme Court determined that the statute of limitations for these claims was paused during the period when Madison Equities challenged the Attorney General’s civil investigative demand (CID), from November 11, 2019, until July 20, 2022. This means the legal time limit for bringing the case did not expire while litigation over evidence requests was ongoing.
Attorney General Keith Ellison commented on the ruling: “I’m pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision, which will put an end to the subjects of investigations like Madison Equities trying to run out the clock on their liability for violations of the law by engaging in lengthy legal challenges to my Office’s broad investigative authority. Now we can finally get to the work of litigating and getting justice for Madison Equities victims who were not paid earned overtime, and for the one brave worker who was retaliated against simply for coming forward about the practices.”
According to allegations in the lawsuit, Madison Equities hired workers as security officers at seven properties in downtown Saint Paul. These workers were supervised from a central office and followed company policies. When employees worked more than 48 hours per week, they were allegedly moved onto subsidiary payrolls and given two paychecks at their regular rate—without receiving overtime pay.
The lawsuit also accuses Madison Equities of retaliating against Chris Lewis, a former security officer who reported concerns about overtime practices. After Mr. Lewis publicized that an investigation had begun, Madison Equities sued him for defamation despite having received notice from authorities regarding its practices.
The Attorney General is seeking various remedies including unpaid overtime wages, damages or restitution for affected workers, civil penalties, and recovery of legal costs.
In October 2019, Ellison’s office issued a CID to investigate alleged wage violations. Madison Equities tried to block this investigation through court action but was ultimately ordered by both district court and later upheld by higher courts to comply with evidence requests. A subsequent appeal led to a narrowing of investigatory authority by the Minnesota Court of Appeals; however, this was reversed by the state Supreme Court after further review.
After prevailing on investigatory scope issues, Ellison filed suit alleging wage theft under Minnesota’s Fair Labor Standards Act and unlawful retaliation against Mr. Lewis. The district court initially dismissed these claims based on statute of limitations grounds and arguments regarding retaliation against former employees. The appeals process resulted in partial reinstatement before last week’s Supreme Court decision fully restored wage theft claims for litigation.
Workers associated with Madison Equities who believe they are owed overtime pay are encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s Office online or by phone for assistance.
