I walked out on my job after 3.5 years because I couldn't get off work to sit with my dying mother in law.

I am so sorry for your losses and for what you have been through. Since I am not sure of your entire situation, I cannot provide any legal advice and would only say this is a general response to help educate on potential legal issues which may or may not be supported by what actually happened. What comes to mind is that you might have been qualified under federal law to take Family Medical Leave Act "FMLA" leave, if you were in need of time off to help care for your close relative. This would depend, in part, on how long you were employed with the company as you need to be a qualified employee in order to get the benefits. It also would depend on the size of the company and how many full time employees or full time employee equivalents they had at the time you needed to take time off to 'sit' with your dying mother in law. Also, you might have been qualified for a newer Minnesota state law, known as Employee Sick and Safe Time, "ESST" depending on the facts and circumstances. It is impossible to say for certain on any of these matters without a private consultation to get more factual details. However, some firms offer free consultations, so I would encourage you to check into that and go from there.