JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri has agreed to a $475,000 settlement in a case involving a state worker who alleged harassment and discrimination.
Kimberly Russell filed a lawsuit in 2016 while working as a tax auditor at the Missouri Revenue Department, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported . The lawsuit alleges her supervisor at the agency's Kansas City field compliance bureau retaliated against Russell after she complained about a coworker's harassment in 2014.
Russell alleges the retaliation included negative job reviews, denial of a promotion and being refused a disabled parking space near the office. Russell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012, according to court records.
Russell is still an agency employee and earned $37,000 last year, according to state payroll records.
The settlement is the latest in a series of payments in cases involving the discrimination and harassment of female workers in Missouri state government.
Attorney General Josh Hawley began compiling a monthly list of the state's legal expenses in response to the litany of settlements and judgments. Lawsuits against Missouri cost taxpayers at least $23 million last year, Hawley said. Sixteen of those cases involved employment discrimination, with six cases involving the Missouri Department of Corrections.