Introduction

Kristy L. Albrecht is a shareholder and member of the Fargo Employment & Labor, Litigation, and Appellate Groups. She represents employers in a wide variety of employment-related disputes, including actions involving claims of discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation, and also advises employers on employment law issues. She defends against employee benefits claims under ERISA, and represent clients in connection with non-compete covenants, confidentiality agreements, and common-law duties of loyalty. Albrecht also represents clients in suits involving personal injury, business contracts, allegations of civil fraud, and civil rights matters.

Education

• University of Iowa College of Law, J.D., 1995, high honors
• Iowa Law Review: Editor in Chief, 1994-1995; Member, 1993-1995
• Jamestown College, B.A., Music Education/Piano Performance, 1983, summa cum laude

Bar Admissions

• North Dakota
• Minnesota
• Iowa (inactive)
• U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota
• U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Practice Areas

• Employment & Labor
• Litigation
• Appellate

Representative Experience

• Successfully represented more than 100 individual plaintiffs suffering personal injuries in railroad litigation.
• Secured, and successfully defended before the Minnesota Court of Appeals, an order dismissing claims brought under the Open Records Law and the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, as well as a claim seeking declaratory judgment regarding authority to purchase land. Vik v. Wild Rice Watershed District, No. 54-CV-08-454 (Minn. Ct. App. Aug. 10, 2010) (unpublished).
• Secured order granting summary judgment on claims brought under the Family Medical Leave Act and Minnesota’s Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act (September 2009).
• Represented a client in a FINRA arbitration and successfully defended against multimillion dollar claims under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII, as well as various state contract and common-law theories. All claims were denied (July 2009).
• Secured order from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of injured plaintiffs, rejecting the defendant’s arguments of preemption under the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, as amended in 2007, as well as various constitutional arguments. Successfully defended against a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States on the Eighth Circuit decision. Lundeen v. Canadian Pac. Ry. Co., 532 F.3d 682 (8th Cir. 2008), cert. denied 129 S. Ct. 2379 (2009)
• Advises clients on various employment issues.

Selected Publications & Presentations

• Presenter, Growing Pains: Compliance Strategies for Growing Companies, April 25, 2013
• Presenter, Fredrikson & Byron’s North Dakota Employment Law Seminar, October 24-25, 2012
• Presenter, Fredrikson & Byron’s North Dakota Employment Law Seminar, October 26-27, 2011
• “The ADA: Shifting Gears to Accommodation Issues,” and “Traversing the FLSA: Exempt/Nonexempt Employees and OT Computation,” Fredrikson & Byron’s Fargo Employment Seminar, October 26, 2010
• “Employee Handbooks: Critical Components in the Employment Relationship,” Fredrikson & Byron’s Employment Law Seminar, May 12, 2010
• Risk Management and an Introduction to Sexual Harassment Law, NDSU Athletic Trainers Seminars, 2004-2009
• “You’ve Got Mail….Regulating Internet and Email Use in the Workplace,” 2002
• “Wage and Hour Compliance: The Risky Business of Exemptions,” 2006
• “Update on Whistleblower Law in Minnesota,” Hennepin County Bar Association’s Hot Topics Seminar, 2007
• “Document Retention: Why You Must have a Reasonable, Enforced Policy,” 2007
• Update on Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Law, 2009
• Note, “Iowa’s First Degree Felony Murder Statute: Eroding Malice and Rejecting the Merger Doctrine,” 79 Iowa L. Rev. 941 (1994) (quoted by Iowa Supreme Court in State v. Heemstra, 721 N.W.2d 549 (Iowa 2006), in which the court adopted the merger doctrine and overruled prior line of cases)

Professional Activities

• Adjunct Professor, University of North Dakota School of Law, 2006-2007
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Minnesota State Bar Association
• Member, State Bar of North Dakota
• Member, Iowa State Bar Association (inactive)
• Member, Cass County Bar Association
• Law Clerk to the Hon. David R. Hansen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1995-1997

Honors & Distinctions

• Super Lawyer, Great Plains Super Lawyers magazine
• America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA, 2005-2010, 2012
• Dorsey & Whitney Scales of Justice Award, 2002 & 2009
• Hancher Finkbine Award for Learning, Leadership and Loyalty, University of Iowa, 1995
• Order of the Coif