/Type /XObject endobj Sexual Harassment - Hostile Work Environment, Failure to Cancel Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), Force Placed Insurance - Flood & Homeowners, Predatory Lending/Unfair Mortgage Servicing, Former South Dakota DCI Agent Represented by Nichols Kaster receives $1.2 Million Jury Verdict after Suffering Retaliation and Discrimination, Loans, Financing, and Borrowers' Rights Overview, Civil Rights and Impact Litigation Overview, Plaintiffs Public Housing Claims Move Forward in Minneapolis, Inside Sales Representative Brings Overtime Case Against Brightwheel, Nichols Kaster, PLLP Awarded First Tier Ranking on The 2023 Best Law Firms List. The Court must still decide front pay, which is wage loss post-trial, and attorneys fees. Kaiser was on the drug task force in Aberdeen back in 2011, when she said a Brown County Sheriff's Deputy was appointed to the team and began sexually harassing her on a regular basis. She mentioned she regretted telling Black[Complaint, 2015.09.23]. Im not sympathetic to the cry of males being picked on.. . Since 2005, SA Corey has been with the South Dakota Office of Attorney General in the stream Kaiser said she's not sure what Jackley's role in her settlement was, but believes blame for the delay partially falls on him. More Highway Patrol Trooper South Dakota State Government yeah, this is pretty much how sexual harassment is handled in this state, right grudz? She was paid on Wednesday after several months of negotiations. VY9H~d&D#iu.QUCoHB(L}~JOI:xw9x0Gh=,~]\c"r-)o!Jx_%1+^Iy$UYXc,WE @Roger Cornelius Curious when you did your nation wide survey that supports your asinine assertion? Supervisor Jason Even took the mens side immediately, accused Zylstra Kaiser of fabricating the sexual harassment allegations against Erickson, and warned her that the issue could lead to her termination. Kaiser successfully completed eight of the nine objectives of the plan, one of which required her to undergo a psychological evaluation. %PDF-1.5 In our society we do have courts of laws that seek the truth, in South Dakota justice is what the republican party says it is, and we also have the court of public opinion which can be as valuable as a court of law. Apply to Correctional Officer, Inventory Associate, Special Agent and more! 1 0 obj 4 0 obj To all the men out there that need advice on how to treat women in the workplace, Ill give you a clue. Run some stats on ethnic crimes for us, wouldja? Indeed, we are reading here only the complaint. Based upon these dates, this settlement was not delayed. x[ms6|nb 2I MT?xn^PX`W,W~sW=yUWYv]sl~n/.7gW\=FI,R'Q0g1?YyY0!UG%STK,g|QMiDY@1|0zycW~[+3_YxN1piT67$bZZ ? When she spoke about her guns, commenting to her that sounds hot; Petting her hair and, on one occasion, putting his arm around her and swaying; When Plaintiff asked for his keys, stating they were in his pocket and she should get them herself; After Plaintiff said her husband would be out of town that weekend, asking her: Should I come over Saturday around 6? and, Having her watch a lewd music video set in a police department [. In October 2011, Zylstra talked with fellow female agent Jessica Page about Ericksons harassment, and Page took the same position: reporting Erickson would only lead to trouble. Kaiser was transferred to Pierre, demoted from Special Agent III to Special Agent II and moved to a less desirable position. In a court of law under one party rule,the truth is whatever the one party decides it is. Ms. Geelsdottir, I support all those things. You cite a few anecdotes, and Im sure instances happen. If we blogged about every one of those crimes it would be 100 times the volume of blogging that Mr. H can issue forth. '!kcE!>{=C9Cv G4]mY01I&Em@6cR1d>!B u Kaiser said if Jackley wasn't involved, she's not sure why that mattered. You do not have to be silent and you should not be in fear of speaking up. Women were simply good, important, worthwhile people who were smart and valuable. It looks like an impossible trial to get a verdict. Powers spins this story because Dan Kaiser is a constant burr under the establishment machines saddle, and because establishment crony Marty Jackley is running for governor. Then comes Brown County Deputy Ross Erickson: In or about August 2011, Brown County Deputy Ross Erickson was assigned to the Drug Task Force. The total warrants served in 2011 were 401. April 15 came and went and after multiple unreturned emails regarding the settlement agreement in April, Kaiser's lawyer was eventually told Jackley had been unavailable because he'd been in Washington, D.C. for the previous two weeks. In the meantime, let us all take a breath, put politics and rhetoric aside, and support this courageous young lady. Clearly you must understand the difference between a court of law and the court of public opinion. WebSTATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA CLASS SPECIFICATION Class Title: DCI Special Agent II Class Code: 688802 Pay Grade: L5 _____ A. In August 2011, Kaiser was ranked as meets or exceeds in every job category. Purpose: Conducts independent investigations or coordinates investigations with other state, How often do you contact your legislators and Congress people about these issues? WebDowty v. D.C.I. Q Since 1937, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation has served as the lifeline of support to South Dakotas law enforcement agencies, leading criminal Plaintiff approached Erickson on or about October 18, 2011 and explained that she was not comfortable with his sexually-oriented comments. Kaiser told Erickson to stop, but his comments persisted. When called to account, Black allegedly turned against Zylstra Erickson: Later that day, Plaintiff approached Black and asked why he shared her personal information. Kaiser said at that time she signed the agreement. Maybe it was around in the old day, but not now. Kaiser said she'd been patient and asked for a "good faith payment," of "anything? Males write the laws in every state and DC. It is easy to figure out, the men all have the same story so they must be right and the lady a lunatic out to ruin their careers. % HB 1221: Free School Meals for Every Student in South Dakota! Mrs Kaiser is in fact Rep Dan Kaisers wife, a noted male Republican, who obviously supports her. Little wonder that the misanthropes on the public dole who infest the halls at DCI are thuggish, criminally insane, entitled white guys living under their own rules instead of under the law. 6 0 obj They are innocent until proven guilty based on a preponderance of the evidence. I say so here and now. q stream In October 2011, Kaiser confided in fellow DCI agent, Mark Black, about how to respond to Ericksons harassment. We believe the interrogations were live streamed to Pierre with someone feeding Black intimidating, confusing and attacking questions to ask the Mette children. Since then, Mark Black has stated he never contacted or interviewed by law enforcement or the Attorney Generals office regarding my criminal complaint and only learned about it after the SD AG had dismissed my complaint as reported by news media. This is one of those rare situations where the accused should be guilty until they prove themselves innocent. stream endobj Former DCI agent Laura Zylstra Kaiser says the state of South Dakota delayed paying her $1.5 million settlement, following a lawsuit over workplace sexual harassment. WebWhen Chief Agent Miller retired, Merle Melstad served as chief agent of the DCI for six months in 1955; he was followed in that post by Rol Kebach, who was to serve twenty 2013) case opinion from the District of South Dakota U.S. Federal District Court Kaiser said as a result of her reporting the harassment that led to her forced resignation, she was unable to find another job in law enforcement. c+g4]AjC`D93P=%OEY&TJ?2m;_e[F(Q\yv|.hxysU-nu#oRmX&{;=e|h=*)X+eZR~,-Erh? That lack of cooperation from her co-workers led to job consequences for Zylstra Kaiser: On December 8, 2011, Assistant Director Dan Satterlee informed Plaintiff she met the WIPs requirements with one exception: she had not rebuilt positive relationships. UM has more students, faculty and staff than the population of Rapid City. Thanks. 2 0 obj No need for me romanticiz about the DCI, in my relationship with Kevin Thumb there was no love. 4 0 obj We are only seeing one side of the story. Kaiser said she was reluctant about telling her superiors and eventually was forced out of her post as retaliation for reporting it. Zylstra Kaiser now charges Gortmaker withreprisal discrimination and sex discrimination under the federal Civil Rights Act and the South Dakota Human RelationsAct. There might be more to the this story than what we see here. The deck is so stacked against the accuser. This law suit may lead the way. WebThe State of South Dakota offers employer paid health insurance plus eleven paid holidays, generous vacation and sick leave accrual, dental, vision, and other Posted Posted 30+ The cold, hard, fact remains, males perpetrate more than 90% of the sexual crimes. Kaiser asked Black not to tell anyone about what she was relaying. Child abuse cases ought to have the same standard. Cant we raise our men to treat women better than this? DCI Special Agent I or II. During the chain of events, Jackley's name was replaced on the agreement with, "elected and appointed officials," and then to Craig Ambach, the Director of the Office of Risk Management for the state. It will be interesting to see how much this one will cost as the ags office will probably have to farm out the defense of this. "On February 28th I received a copy of that agreement," Kaiser said. Not when they intend to use her to send a message. The coincidence of the administrative attack on Zylstra Kaiser and the legal attack on Schwab, Taliaferro, and the Mette children suggests a connection, a multi-front push by Brown County an DCI to shut down potentially damaging lawsuits. endobj In December 2011, following the work improvement plan, DCI informed Kaiser that effective January 3, 2012, she would be demoted from Special Agent III to Special Agent II and transferred to the Medicare Fraud unit in Pierre, South Dakota, away from her husband, Dan, an Aberdeen police officer, and fourteen month old child. MC-you got your story ass backwards. >> 5 0 obj I told my attorneys, 'I didn't sue Marty Jackley and i'm not going to enter into a contract with Marty Jackley.'". Kaiser went before reporters this afternoon to set the record straight, she said, because Attorney General Marty Jackley is accusing her and her lawyers, as well as Rep. Kristi Noem (R-South Dakota) of conspiring against him in his bid for governor. . Weighing onZylstra Kaisers mind, though, was a 2005 experience in which shehad reported another co-worker for sexual harassmentand gotten the wrong response from the boss: Her then-supervisor, Assistant Director Brian Zeeb, said her complaint could be seen as a sign of weakness and made a comment along the lines of, In the future, if you want a promotion or transfer to a new duty station, some may see this incident as your inability to get along with others. Rather than undertaking an investigation, Zeeb forced her to confronther harasser. She lost her dream job and her career because she stood up for what is right. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Black attempted to shift the blame to Plaintiff and began ignoring her. Former Division of Criminal Investigation special agent Laura Zylstra Kaiser of Aberdeen is suing DCI chief Bryan Gortmaker and former DCI agent Mark Black for hindering her employment. I mostly agree with you Jenny. Kaiser then confronted Erickson one-on-one and asked him to stop the harassment. WebAbout us. Kaiser said she did tell Rep. Kristi Noem her story about her experience, but didn't sign or agree to anything official to have it used against Jackley in Noem's campaign, however, "Kristi is free to use it," she said. As you look through the sections that describe the duties of the Division of Criminal Investigation, you will notice that we are very busy working in the background to keep South Dakota citizens safe. If not, it really doesnt matter, their lives might as well, be over.
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