ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Former Senate employee Michael Brodkorb has filed what many believe to be a highly anticipated lawsuit.
It was not full of salacious details of other affairs among state employees, but it did allege he was the victim of gender discrimination when he was fired from his job late last year.
In the complaint, filed by attorney Phil Villaume, Brodkorb admits to an affair with then-Senate majority leader Amy Koch. Villaume argues Brodkorb was fired because he is a man and that other females who have had affairs with legislative leaders were not fired for the same actions.
Brodkorb is also suing for invasion of privacy and defamation.
The State of Minnesota, the Minnesota Senate and the Secretary of the Senate, Cal Ludeman, are named as defendants.
"Will you learn about the culture of the Senate? We don't know that that'll necessarily come out you know. We're still optimistic at some point in time that we'll get the case settled," Villaume said.
"That's the kind of story that will clearly explode on the front page of the news," Hamline political science professor David Schultz said, about the potential of these affairs going public during the discovery process of litigation. "The timing on this is exquisite because it'll explode just during election time."
The lawyers hired by the Senate did not return KARE 11's calls for comment. Current Senate majority leader David Senjem sent out a statement, which read, in part: "I believe the Senate did nothing wrong. The Senate acted carefully and appropriately in regards to this employment issue. I am not interested in a mediated settlement. I believe the Senate will prevail in court."
Brodkorb's lawyers also dug their heels in. "It's going to be long, protracted litigation," Villaume promised.
At this point, the Senate's legal bills have added up to more than $84,000 in taxpayer money. "A case like this could be very expensive to litigate," Schultz explained, before adding that a settlement or a jury reward in this case could be significant if the plaintiff wins.
A settlement is a possibility, but it doesn't look likely right now.
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