Court allows appeal of discrimination case against Missouri Veterans Commission

The Western District Court of Appeals will allow the Missouri attorney general’s office to appeal a $3.7 million discrimination verdict against the state veteran’s commission.

Attorney General Chris Koster now has until Dec. 27 to appeal a jury’s verdict in favor of Pat Rowe Kerr.

Kerr sued the Missouri Veterans Commission alleging she was fired from her position as the commission’s senior adviser of veteran outreach in 2009 not because of poor performance, but because Veterans Commission director Larry Kay has a problem with older, successful women.

Koster’s office missed a Nov. 21 deadline to file an appeal, saying they were unaware that the Cole County judge hearing the case had dismissed their request for a new trial because it was a single sentence at the end of his Oct. 12 judgement. Kerr’s attorney said the missed deadline was an example of negligence and should preclude the state from being allowed to file an appeal.

On Thursday, the Western District Court of Appeals agreed with Koster.

This story was originally published December 15, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Court allows appeal of discrimination case against Missouri Veterans Commission."