Jury Verdict Clears Olmsted County of Discrimination Claims

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Members of an Olmsted County Jury have ruled in favor of Olmsted County in a discrimination lawsuit.

The verdict was handed down this afternoon in the case of Wilhelmina Jacob. She filed the lawsuit about two years ago and claimed she was the victim of racial and age discrimination.

The case went to trial two weeks ago and closing arguments were presented to the jury late last week. The panel returned to the Olmsted County Courthouse this morning to begin deliberations.

Jacob, who was 50 years old when the lawsuit was first filed, began working for Olmsted County as a social worker in 2002 and soon after earned a Master's Degree. Her lawsuit alleged that her supervisors and top County officials refused to promote her and filled the positions she was seeking with "less experienced, younger, white people.

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The lawsuit claimed that she suffered "physical and emotional distress resulting in her need to take medical leave and seek counseling" after she received a demotion in September 2021. The court document alleged that she was demoted despite receiving excellent performance reviews throughout her two decades of employment with the County.

The jury's verdict in the case found that she did not prove, by the greater weight of the evidence, that the county acted with a discriminatory motive as to her age, race, or gender. The jury also found that she failed to prove that her employer retaliated against her after she made claims of age, race, or gender discrimination.

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