Id. , subd. Phillips' claims under Minn. Stat. 179A.06, 179A.13 were both based on the alleged violation of his right to grieve under Minn. Stat. Section 179A.06 does not set forth any additional or separate remedy for violation of an employee's right to grieve, and Phillips does not cite any other authority setting forth such a remedy. The district court did not err in dismissing Phillips' claim under Minn. Stat.
Statutory interpretation is a question of law subject to de novo review.
Phillips brought his whistleblower claim under Minn. Stat. The McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting procedure consists of a prima facie case, an answer, and a rebuttal. To establish a prima facie case under the whistleblower act, one of the elements an employee must show is that he engaged in statutorily protected conduct. Phillips contends that he and other employees suspected that the lower pay rate violated MAPE's contract with the state and that the suspected violation of the contract constituted a suspected law or rule violation under the whistleblower statute because Minn. Stat. If implementation of the contract requires adoption of a law, ordinance, or charter amendment, the employer shall make every reasonable effort to propose and secure the enactment of this law, ordinance, resolution, or charter amendment.