Discrimination Lawsuit Against Olmsted County Set For Trial

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(UPDATED to reflect dismissal of claims against individual county officials.)

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A trial is currently scheduled to begin this week in a race and age discrimination civil lawsuit filed by a long time Olmsted County employee.

The lawsuit was filed in April 2022 by Wilhelmina Jacob. At the time, the court document described her as a 50-year-old African-American woman who began her career with the county in 2002 as a social worker before completing her Masters Degree in 2003.

The employment-related lawsuit claims the three County officials refused to promote her and that the positions she applied for were "given to less experienced, younger, white people."

Jacob, in her lawsuit, says throughout her 20 years of service she consistently received excellent performance reviews but was demoted in September 2021. She claims that caused her to suffer "physical and emotional distress resulting in her need to take medical leave and seek counseling."

The lawsuit named Olmsted County Administrator Heidi Welsh, Deputy County Administrator Travis Gransee, and Human Resources Director Julian Currie as defendants but the judge presiding over the case later dismissed the claims made against the individual county officials while allowing the lawsuit against Olmsted County to proceed to trial. .

Jacob is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, along with reimbursement for her legal costs.