2004 Minnesota Statutes

     176.541 State departments. 

    Subdivision 1.    Application of chapter to state 
 employees.  This chapter applies to the employees of any 
 department of this state. 

    Subd. 2.    Defense of claim against state.  When the 
 commissioner of employee relations believes that a claim against 
 the state for compensation should be contested, the commissioner 
 shall defend the state claim. 

    Subd. 3.    Duties of attorney general.  At any stage in 
 such a compensation proceeding, the attorney general may assume 
 the duty of defending the state.  When the commissioner of 
 employee relations or a department of this state requests the 
 attorney general to assume the defense, the attorney general 
 shall do so. 

    Subd. 4.    Medical examination of employee; witnesses; 
 conduct of defense.  In conducting a defense against a claim 
 for compensation, the commissioner of the Department of Employee 
 Relations or the attorney general, as the case may be, may 
 require that an employee submit to a medical examination, 
 procure the attendance of expert and other witnesses at a 
 hearing, and do any other act necessary to conduct a proper 
 defense. 

    Subd. 5.    Expenses of conducting defense.  The 
 expenses of conducting a defense shall be charged to the 
 department which employs the employee involved.  These expenses 
 shall be paid from the state compensation revolving fund. 

    Subd. 6.    Legal and clerical help.  The commissioner 
 of employee relations may employ such legal and clerical help as 
 authorized by the Department of Administration.  The salaries of 
 these persons shall be paid from the state compensation 
 revolving fund, but shall be apportioned among the several 
 departments of the state in relation to the amount of 
 compensation paid to employees of any department as against the 
 total amount of compensation paid to employees of all 
 departments. 

    Subd. 7.    Historical Society as state department.  For 
 the purposes of workers' compensation as provided by this 
 chapter, the Minnesota Historical Society is a state department 
 and such chapter applies to its employees the same as it applies 
 to employees of any department of the state government. 

    Subd. 8.    State may insure.  The state of Minnesota 
 may elect to insure its liability under the workers' 
 compensation law for persons employed under the federal 
 Emergency Employment Act of 1971, as amended, and the 
 Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended, 
 with an insurer properly licensed in Minnesota. 

    HIST: 1953 c 755 s 71; 1967 c 8 s 1; 1971 c 422 s 10; 1973 c 
 388 s 130-133; 1975 c 2 s 2; 1975 c 359 s 23; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 
 332 s 100-103