Lawyers for Michael Brodkorb and the Minnesota Senate will finally have a pre-trial conference meeting prior to the formal start of Brodkorb’s wrongful termination case against the Senate. Judge Arthur Boylan has ordered a pre-trial conference in his chambers Friday morning.
The conference, usually a routine procedure and often conducted by phone, was originally scheduled for May 2, with the judge’s stipulation that the parties appear in person. It appeared that the legislative session presented a timing conflict, resulting in the re-scheduling.
A spokesman for Senate majority leader Tom Bakk says Bakk will not attend the Friday conference.
The court’s earlier requirement that “all counsel and party representatives can be present in-person for said conference” indicated to some legal observers that the hearing was not routine and is, in fact, the court’s nudge to the Senate and Brodkorb to settle the case before an expensive and time-consuming trial.
Court documents show that Brodkorb, who was paid $90,000 a year as communications director for the Senate Republican caucus, is claiming $600,000 in damages. The Minnesota Senate has incurred almost $200,000 in legal fees defending itself against the wrongful termination charge.
Brodkorb was fired in December 2011 after his relationship with former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch became known. He has said that to prove a case of gender discrimination, he will name other staff members of the Legislature who had similar relationships with their bosses but who were not dismissed.