Case Explained: Facing threats on the job, housing staff may receive stronger legal protections – Session Daily – Legal Perspective

Employees of Minnesota’s housing and redevelopment authorities conduct inspections, enforce a public housing community’s rule, or determine eligibility for public benefits.

Those interactions can sometimes escalate, and workers report facing threats, harassment, and, in some cases, violence.

Melissa Taphorn, legislative committee chair of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, told the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee Tuesday that she recently asked members for examples of on-the-job incidents.

The response, she said, “was a long list.”

Among the reports: a maintenance worker pulled from his vehicle by a group of nonresidents; a staff member threatened by a resident’s son, who later fired shots into her car; an employee charged by someone wielding two machetes; keys thrown at a worker’s face; and frequent verbal threats tied to enforcement actions or benefit decisions.

“When you can’t simply walk away, higher penalties are appropriate,” said Rep. Wayne Johnson (R–Cottage Grove).

He sponsors HF4141 that would impose enhanced criminal penalties for attacking housing authority employees: offenses that are currently misdemeanors could be elevated to gross misdemeanors or felonies, with a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison, if bodily harm occurs.

The committee laid the proposal over for possible inclusion in a larger bill.

Minnesota law already provides enhanced penalties for assaults on a wide range of public workers, including police officers, EMTs, firefighters, corrections staff, judges, prosecutors, probation officers, community crime-prevention volunteers, and utility, postal, and transit employees.

Johnson said including housing authority personnel in that list reflects today’s realities and protects those people who keep Minnesotans housed. “We have to make sure those who go out and do the work for us can come home safely.”