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Saturday, May 16, 2009

Ind. Decisions - "Hoosier Lottery settles federal lawsuit"

Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star reports today:

Discrimination lawsuits filed after a 2005 shakeup in the Hoosier Lottery have cost the agency $3 million in payouts.

The largest hit came this month with a nearly $2.8 million settlement resolving a federal lawsuit by eight former employees who said they were fired because they are African-American. Last year, the state-run lottery agreed to pay $225,000 to settle a lawsuit by its former attorney who is disabled.

The lottery, a financially independent enterprise, will pay by drawing on profits that amounted to $217 million last year. * * *

The longtime employees were fired between January and August 2005, under then-Executive Director Esther Schneider. She was Gov. Mitch Daniels' first appointee to lead the lottery when he took office.

When Schneider stepped down in January 2007, Daniels lauded her for restoring confidence in lottery operations and record financial returns. But she also drew criticism for aggressive management, including more than two dozen firings on a staff of about 200. * * *

Schneider's successor, Kathryn Densborn, has signed both of the settlements.

The racial-discrimination settlement follows a legal fight over the lottery's assertion of immunity as a state agency against some of the claims. U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the lottery did not have such protection, in part because it receives no state funding. * * *

The new settlement covers Freddie Burris, Michael Crawford, Darien Hayes, Kenneth Hicks, Kelli Jeffries, Vickie Presley, Rodney Williams and Donna Southers. It ends a lawsuit filed in August 2005.

Six had worked for the Hoosier Lottery since its inception in 1989, two since 1997.

Under the $2.75 million settlement, each will receive varying payments for wages and compensatory damages, averaging $239,000 per person. The settlement includes $841,000 in attorneys' fees for Indianapolis law firm Macey Swanson and Allman.

A year ago, the lottery settled a lawsuit by former general counsel Janna J. Shisler by paying $146,000 to Shisler and $79,000 in attorneys' fees.

Shisler was forced to quit in September 2005, her suit said, after Schneider treated her with hostility and was less willing to accommodate her quadriplegia than other directors had been since she started work in 1992.

Judge Barker's Jan. 7, 2008 district court ruling finding the Lottery is not a state agency, Burrus v. State Lottery Comm’n, is available here and is discussed in the latter part of this ILB entry from May 31, 2008.

The 7th Circuit opinion affirming Judge Barker, holding "The Lottery is not entitled to sovereign immunity because it is not an arm of the state. ," is summarized in this Oct. 6, 2008 ILB entry.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 16, 2009 02:07 PM
Posted to Ind Fed D.Ct. Decisions