Jerome Dobson and Gregory Rich have obtained unanimous verdicts in favor of a former employee of the Missouri Veterans Commission on her claims of sex discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. The plaintiff, Pat Rowe Kerr, previously worked for the Missouri Veterans Commission as the State Veterans’ Ombudsman and the Director of Operation Outreach. She filed a lawsuit against the State of Missouri, the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Missouri Veterans Commission, and Larry Kay, the Executive Director of the Missouri Veterans Commission, alleging that the defendants fired her in November 2009 because of her sex and age. She also alleged that the defendants retaliated against her for complaining that her termination was discriminatory.
On July 21, 2016, after a 10-day trial in Cole County, Missouri, a jury returned verdicts in favor of Ms. Rowe Kerr on all of her claims. The jury awarded Ms. Rowe Kerr $1,300,000 in actual damages and assessed an additional $1,575,000 in punitive damages against the defendants.