It took a Cole County jury just under four hours Thursday to find in favor of Pat Rowe Kerr in her lawsuit against the Missouri Veterans Commission and its director, Larry Kay.
Kerr, a former MVC employee, was dismissed in November 2009 and sued the state agency in July 2011, claiming discrimination and harassment over her dismissal.
Jurors awarded Kerr $1.3 million in actual damages. They also awarded her $1,575,000 in punitive damages.
Actual damages are intended to compensate a plaintiff for the losses suffered due to the harm caused by the defendant.
The Missouri Attorney General's Office defended Kay and the commission in the case. Spokeswoman Nanci Gonder declined to comment on the outcome.
In closing arguments Thursday morning, before the case went to the jury, Kerr's attorney, Jerome Dobson, told the jury the foundation for Kay's defense was the claim Gov. Jay Nixon issued a veto requesting Kay to terminate one special assistant professional.
"There is no such veto because they can't produce the documentation," Dobson said. "The veto the governor did issue said nothing about eliminating a special assistant professional.
"Mr. Kay did what he wanted to do and fired Kerr. The former budget director even testified there was nothing that specifically directed Kay to remove an assistant professional."
Dobson suggested Kay himself didn't believe there was a veto.
"Mr. Kay's recent history with women, particularly older women, is disturbing," Dobson said. "In Kosovo, high-ranking women were replaced with men who didn't have understanding of the positions they would be filling.
"The female officers who testified are not friends of Kerr, so they have no reason but to tell the truth. He yelled at and humiliated these women. His time in Kosovo was 'dismissal' for women."
Dobson also told jurors in the middle of a state budget crisis, Kay created a position and filled it with a male friend, giving him a $65,000 raise, and he gave another male MVC employee $31,000 in raises.
"He doesn't seem to have a problem with men and younger women as long as they salute him," Dobson said. "He is not comfortable with older women who will challenge him."
Dobson reminded jurors Kerr had to deal with the disabilities her husband faced after a motor vehicle accident and took that work into becoming an advocate for veterans.
"She improved their benefits and health care," he said. "Over 50 homes of veterans were saved from foreclosure by her efforts.
"Mr. Kay had a job he left open in the budget with a $75,000 salary. He used that for a slush fund, and that was more important than Ms. Kerr and the work she did."
Dobson added: "I suggest that Kerr's recognition for her work, and she got that from a lot of places including other states and even Canada, played a part in her dismissal because Mr. Kay saw that and said that's the recognition a general deserves.
"That gave him all the reason he needed to fire her."
In his closing argument on Kay's behalf, Assistant Attorney General Douglas Leyshock said there was never any question about the quality of the work Kerr did while at the commission.
"She is one of hundreds of MVC employees who work to make sure veterans are taken care of," he said. "The issue is, no one is indispensable."
Leyshock said Kerr's credibility and her testimony "butt heads."
"She tells you that Mr. Kay pushed her into taking the outreach position, but it was also brought out that Ms. Kerr expressed to Mr. Kay that she wanted to do outreach work," Leyshock reminded the jury. "Mr. Kay had the authority to go ahead and separate the services that Ms. Kerr did while ombudsman, but he didn't because he wanted to give her the option of either staying with ombudsman work or do outreach."
Leyshock added: "The testimony we heard is that Mr. Kay yelled at Ms. Kerr and it happened when she didn't get what she wanted to do. Former MVC Director Hal Dulle even testified that Ms. Kerr had a hard time accepting the word 'no.'"
Leyshock reminded jurors no MVC employee testified they had seen Kay treat Kerr in a harsh way.
"While Kay was serving in Kosovo, he was subject to review, and if it was found that what the female soldiers who testified claims' were true, he would have expected to be sent home," Leyshock said.
He also told jurors some key evidence was missing from Kerr's case.
He noted there was a claim by her husband, John, of some 30 calls to Kerr's cellphone from Kay that were harassing, but tapes made of those calls were not produced.
"Most importantly, you need to remember that (Kerr) is an at-will employee, which means she could be terminated at any time," Leyshock said. "She was not let go because of her age or gender. She was let go because of the extraordinary budget crisis the state was facing."
As far as the claim Kay was using a frozen salary as a slush fund, Leyshock said, "No one ever found that Kay used that money for improper purposes. The MVC gets audited and reviewed, and nothing wrong was ever found."
Previous coverage:
Kay back on stand to defend actions, July 21, 2016
Kerr-Kay trial ends seventh day, July 20, 2016
Kerr's lawyers rest case; defense testimony begins, July 19, 2016
Kay defends termination of Kerr, July 15, 2016
Budget constraints questioned during Kerr trial, July 14, 2016
Kerr testifies as trial continues, July 13, 2016
Kerr's harassment suit spills into court, July 12, 2016
Pat Rowe-Kerr sues Veterans Commission, Kay on several issues, July 26, 2011