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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

MPR, MinnPost continue coverage of situation at AG's Office

I have been following the coverage today on the the Minnesota Attorney General's Office by Minnesota Public Radio and Eric Black at MinnPost. I haven't posted anything primarily because the coverage has been fairly extensive and I don't have much to add at the moment.

It's worth noting that MPR has a posted a PDF of the lengthy letter that assistant AG Amy Lawler sent to Deputy AG Karen Olson after Lawler was placed on administrative leave over remarks she made to the media critical of management of the office. Regardless of your take on the situation, it makes for interesting reading.

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UPDATE: The AG is mending some union fences. This in from the local Fox News site:

Beginning April 1, hundreds of Minnesotans will no longer be able to receive care at Park Nicollet. The clinic has chosen not to accept Medicare service plans, including Medicare-supplemental health plans. ...

The Local 49 union has reached out to Attorney General Lori Swanson. Swanson has taken up their case, accusing Park Nicollet of choosing profits over patients. While Park Nicollet has said they’ll continue seeing patients with complicated or compromised medical conditions, they fail to be specific about what that entails, says Swanson.

Click here for more.

5 comments:

anonymous said...

Does anyone have a link to a copy of the legal opinion relied upon by the AG for its argument that the lawyers cannot unionize? Legal discussion might be interesting.

Anonymous said...

I agree. That, and any other materials that AG Swanson reportedly provided the DFL legislative leadership.

Anonymous said...

I'm sickened by Swanson's attempt to buddy up to local 49. Not only does Swanson refuse to recognize her own staff's attempt to organize, she has punished 3 organizers (firing 2 and placing 1 on leave) and has continually sent anti-union literature/messages to her staff (anti-union literature shows up overnight on the desks or in the mailboxes of certain AAGs). Perhaps if Swanson simply said she did not believe the staff could organize given PELRA, a legal discussion would be interesting. Given Swanson's union-busting tactics, we are beyond such legal discussion.

Anonymous said...

"beyond legal discussion"? O ye of little faith! Nothing is beyond legal discussion!

What would be interesting would be a legal opinion responding to the AG's legal position.

Anonymous said...

What sickens me is that Swanson has the gall to say that it is "untenable" that she should be required to respond to the allegations of anonymous employees. I suppose her response should other attorneys come forward would be about as warm as her response was to Lawler. Get real...