Auditors ding state Human Rights Department.

Byline: Kevin Featherly

Parties to discrimination complaints filed with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights routinely have waited more than a yearsometimes closer to two yearsfor cases to be resolved, a new report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) says.

That violates the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which generally requires the department to resolve complaints within one year. The report finds that only 40% of discrimination complaints filed between fiscal years 2016 and 2018 were resolved within the required time, while 16% took more than a year and a half, the audit found.

That has led to a big backlog of cases, the OLA report says. At the end of fiscal year 2019, the department had 800 cases awaiting resolution, its highest number since 2013. Caseloads also have swelled to 61 per investigator at the end of fiscal year 2019. In 2015, the agency averaged 32 cases per investigator.

OLA Senior Program Evaluation Manager Caitlin Badger and Deputy Legislative Auditor Judy Randall presented the findings at the Capitol on Feb. 28, to the joint House-Senate Legislative Audit Commission. It is the third time since 1981 that the OLA has evaluated the department. The second audit was conducted in 1996.

"Then as now we have some of the same findings, especially regarding problems with timeliness," Randall told the committee.

The report makes a number of recommendations to the both the department and the Legislature (see sidebar). Among those suggestions is one encouraging the department to consider investigating fewer cases.

"These may be difficult decisions," Badger said.

"I struggle with this in some ways," said Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero, testifying at the Feb. 28 hearing. "I'm not quite sure how to say we're not going to investigate age-discrimination cases."

State law directs Human Rightsthe agency tasked with enforcing the state's Human Rights Actto work toward eliminating discrimination in Minnesota, partly through public education. It also has oversight of state contractors, making sure they comply with affirmative action requirements.

But the OLA report focuses on agency's authority to investigate discrimination claims. Those can result in settlements or the department can refer unresolved cases to the state Attorney General.

Under state law, Human Rights must prioritize certain casesthose that involve alleged physical violence, for example. Statutes also require the agency to make immediate inquiries into...

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