Legal Memorandum: Fraudulent Inducement of Employment

Issue: What constitutes fraudulent inducement of employment under Minnesota law?

In Minnesota, statutory law specifically proscribes making false statements as an inducement to entering into an employment relationship.  Minn. Stat. § 181.64 provides that

[i]t shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, company, corporation, association, or organization of any kind, doing business in this state, . . . to induce, influence, persuade, or engage any person to change . . . from any place in any state . . . to any place in this state, to work in any branch of labor through or by means of knowingly false representations, whether spoken, written, or advertised in printed form, concerning the kind or character of such work .

. . . 

Id. § 181.64 (2012).  A person influenced, induced, or persuaded to change employment or change her place of employment by means of the proscribed conduct has a right of action to recover all actual damages sustained as a consequence of the employer’s false or deceptive representations, false advertising, or false pretenses used to induce her to change her place of employment, plus reasonable attorneys’ fees.  Id. § 181.65.  Liability under the statute requires an actual physical relocation in order to accept the new position—a standard that is easily satisfied in the present case.  See Kattke v. Indep. Order of Foresters, No. 01-2540 (8th Cir. Feb. 27, 2002) (explaining that to satisfy the statute, an employee must "physically move, not merely enter employment with another employer"). 

If the employer was a governmental entity, it could potentially raise some additional questions.  For […]