Dillon agrees to pay former employee $50,000 to settle wrongful termination lawsuit

The town of Dillon has agreed to pay $50,000 to a former employee who brought a lawsuit against the town claiming she was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for raising internal complaints of gender discrimination.

Kerstin Anderson, who worked as Dillon’s marketing director from about April 2015 through when she was fired in February 2022, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver through her attorney earlier this year.

In an offer of judgment filed by the town’s lawyers June 24, the town agreed to pay $50,000 to settle the lawsuit without going to trial. Anderson’s lawyer Susan Klopman accepted the offer and the court issued a final judgment the same day.

“It is Ms. Anderson’s opinion, based on her experience, that the Town Manager created, and the Town Council has fostered, a toxic workplace culture at the Town of Dillon,” Klopman said in a statement. “The Town will now have to reckon with the public record, the (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s) determination, and now Final Judgment in Federal Court against it for violating Federal law and Ms. Anderson’s Civil Rights.”

Anderson claimed in the lawsuit that Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson “targeted women for differential treatment, particularly older women, by blaming and disciplining them for his own failures,” according to court documents. She said in the lawsuit that she was fired the day after making a “good faith complaint” to her employer about the alleged differential treatment.

Last September, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a letter of determination finding the town violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination Employment Act of 1967, “when it discharged (Anderson) in retaliation for her internal complaints.” The commission, however, states in the letter that it made no finding on Anderson’s allegations that the town subjected her to different terms and conditions or discipline due to her age and sex.

After the commission issued its findings, “Ms. Anderson wanted the matter to end,” Klopman wrote in the statement. “However, due to the Town’s failure to accept liability or acknowledge the significant damages it caused Ms. Anderson, a formal lawsuit was filed against the Town.”

The town of Dillon through its attorney Ashley Hernandez-Schlagel denied in court documents that it had violated federal employment statutes or “engaged in any unlawful employment practices.” The town’s “conduct and actions related to (Anderson’s) employment were based on legitimate, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons,” Hernandez-Schlagel wrote in court documents.

The town declined to comment on the final judgment issued in the case.

“Kerstin Anderson has endured nearly two and a half years of reputational harm, damages and legal costs at the hand of the town of Dillon,” Klopman said. “Ms. Anderson is now content to receive Final Judgment in Federal Court against the Town of Dillon, clear her name and put this matter behind her, as well as raise awareness in the hopes that the Town will do what is necessary to create a positive and equitable work environment for its employees moving forward.”