Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a suit over a transgender Highway Patrol employee’s firing
TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas will pay $50,000 to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by a former state police employee who alleged he was fired for coming out as transgender.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and eight leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature unanimously approved the settlement during a brief online video conference on Thursday. The state attorney general’s office has been pursuing the settlement to defend the Highway Patrol, but any agreement it reaches must also be approved by the governor and top lawmakers.
Kelly and lawmakers did not publicly discuss the settlement, and the amount was not disclosed until the state released its formal resolution approving the settlement, nearly four hours after their meeting. Kelly’s office and the offices of Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins did not respond to emails seeking comment after the meeting.
The former employee’s attorney declined to discuss the settlement before state officials met Thursday and did not respond to a phone call seeking comment. The lawsuit did not specify the amount sought but said it included damages for lost wages, suffering, emotional distress and “loss of enjoyment of life.”
The former employee, a building and grounds manager at the patrol’s headquarters in Topeka, filed a lawsuit after he was fired in June 2022. The patrol said the former employee had been accused of sexual harassment and failed to cooperate adequately with an internal investigation. The lawsuit alleged that was a pretext to fire a transgender employee.
The settlement came four months after U.S. District Judge John Broomes denied the state’s request to dismiss the lawsuit before trial, ruling that there were “genuine issues of material fact” that a jury must resolve.
The US Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that a landmark 1964 federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace also prohibits anti-LGBTQ+ bias.
According to court documents, the former Highway Patrol employee, a Topeka resident, attempted to socially transition from male to female at work. The former employee’s last name was listed as Dawes, but court documents used a male first name and male pronouns. It was unclear Thursday what first name or pronouns Dawes now uses.
In a December 2023 court document, Dawes’ attorney said that top patrol leaders met “a few months” before Dawes’ firing to discuss the fact that Dawes is transgender and to fire Dawes for that reason.
The patrol acknowledged the meeting took place but said leaders decided to seek legal advice about the patrol’s “responsibilities to accommodate Dawes” in the social transition at work, according to a November 2023 court filing by a prosecutor.
Court documents show the meeting was not documented, which Dawes’ attorney described as “a serious procedural irregularity.”
In their court documents, police stated that Dawes’ firing had nothing to do with the fact that Dawes is transgender.
It said another female employee complained that Dawes had complimented her appearance in May 2022, telling her “how nice it was to see a woman really take care of herself.” Dawes also sent her an email in June 2022 that began, “Just a quick note to let you know I think you look fantastic today!” The other employee interpreted both as sexual advances, it said.
Dawes acknowledged the interactions, but Dawes’ attorney said Dawes was not disciplined for those comments before he was fired. And if Dawes had been, the likely punishment would have been only a reprimand.
The patrol said Dawes was fired because he refused the first time an investigator wanted to question him about the other employee’s allegations. The patrol said Dawes claimed he wasn’t prepared, while Dawes claimed he wanted a lawyer present.
Dawes was interviewed three days later, but the patrol said refusing the initial interview led to Dawes’ termination, as patrol policy requires “full cooperation” with an internal investigation.
“Dawes cannot identify a single person who is not transgender who was treated more favorably than transgender people,” the state said in its November 2023 filing.