SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Sioux Falls-based Sanford Health has agreed to pay back wages and damages to a former employee; the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) says the health care system denied this employee the 12 weeks of parental leave to which she was entitled and fired her.
Sanford disputes what the department discovered.
DLI says after an unnamed pregnant employee requested six weeks of leave , Sanford eventually approved a period of leave lasting about six-and-a-half weeks, requiring her to be back on Jan. 24, 2024.
Legal documents detailing the state’s findings say requests from the employee to increase her leave stayed unapproved “pending the submittal of additional documentation.”
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The state also says that after Sanford asked the employee if she would return after those six-and-a-half weeks, the employee responded she would take more than that, eventually informing the health system she planned to take all 12 weeks allowed under Minnesota law.