Keith Wildhaber settles case against St. Louis County for $10.25M

Scott Lauck//February 14, 2020//

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St. Louis County agreed to a $10.25 million settlement to resolve claims by a gay St. Louis County police official who alleged that he was passed over for multiple promotions because he didn’t fit stereotypical male norms.

The settlement comes after a St. Louis County jury last October sided with then-Sgt. Keith Wildhaber on claims of sex discrimination and retaliation under the Missouri Human Rights Act. The total judgment in the case came to more than $20.6 million, including the original $19.97 million verdict plus attorneys’ fees and costs awarded post-trial.

Missouri Lawyers Media named it the second-highest jury verdict of 2019. Separately, the news organization’s Missouri Lawyers Awards honored Wildhaber’s attorney, Russ Riggan of the Riggan Law Firm, as a Legal Champion for his work on the case.

After County Executive Sam Page announced the settlement on Feb. 10, Judge David Lee Vincent III vacated the earlier judgments in the case. In his order, Vincent said he would retain jurisdiction over the case to enforce the terms of the agreement.

At a news conference, Page said the agreement allows the county to move forward, according to the Associated Press.

“I think it’s important to recognize that this sends a message to everyone in county government and to all of our employers in the St. Louis region that discrimination will not be tolerated,” he said.

Although the settlement amount is approximately half of what a St. Louis County jury awarded, $17 million of the original amount was in punitive damages. Half of that portion of the award, minus attorneys’ fees and expenses, would have gone to the state’s Tort Victims’ Compensation Fund had the case proceeded to a final judgment.

In an interview, Riggan said the case wasn’t just about money for his client. He noted that his client has since been promoted to lieutenant, where he can help bring change as the head of the department’s new diversity and inclusion unit.

“This is not the kind of thing where Keith gets his settlement and then rides off in the sunset,” Riggan said.

Wildhaber’s verdict followed a Missouri Supreme Court ruling in February 2019 that added a new layer to the law surrounding sexual-orientation discrimination.

In Lampley v. Missouri Commission on Human Rights, the court said a gay state employee could continue with a sex-discrimination suit based on evidence of sexual stereotyping. The plaintiff’s sexual orientation, the court held, “is incidental and irrelevant to sex stereotyping.”

The settlement in Wildhaber’s case forecloses any appellate ruling that might further clarify the law. Riggan said that, while he was confident of the case’s position on appeal, there are always risks involved. Ultimately, he said, it could fall to the legislature to clarify the law.