SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – A federal judge has ordered the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation director to appear in court after the state failed to pay a former agent roughly $1.5 million from a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit.
Judge Charles Kornmann on Friday ordered Bryan Gortmaker to explain why the court shouldn’t enforce a settlement agreement and order immediate payment to former DCI agent Laura Zylstra Kaiser.
A jury backed Zylstra Kaiser’s claim in December and payment was due in April.
Zylstra Kaiser got a good review just before a new colleague joined her on the Aberdeen Area Drug Task Force in 2011. She says he soon began making inappropriate comments. She complained to superiors, got a bad review and a demotion. She eventually quit.
