LOCAL

Zylstra Kaiser: Lawsuit settlement process took nearly 3 months

Elisa Sand esand@aberdeennews.com
Aberdeen News

Laura Zylstra Kaiser this afternoon outlined the nearly three-month process it took to finalize a settlement in her civil lawsuit after attorneys reached an agreement at the end of February.

She was awarded $1.2 million in December by a federal jury in Aberdeen in a lawsuit she filed against Bryan Gortmaker as director of the state Division of Criminal Investigation. The final settlement, which includes forward pay and attorney fees, is $1.54 million. In a phone interview today, Zylstra Kaiser said the settlement includes $543,000 for attorney fees.

A combination of state money and insurance funds were used to pay the settlement, according to Kelsey Pritchard, communications director for the governor's office.

Gortmaker was to appear in federal court Thursday to address an order to enforce the settlement agreement. That hearing was canceled after the settlement was finalized Monday and payment was made to Zylstra Kaiser Wednesday.

Those final signatures and the payment came after her attorneys filed a motion to enforce the settlement on May 14. But, Zylstra Kaiser said, the timing had nothing to do with politics.

"This isn't about politics," she said at the news conference. "For me, it's about telling the facts."

Attorney General Marty Jackley is running for governor. Also running is Rep. Kristi Noem. Both are Republican candidates in the June 5 primary. When news broke Monday that there were delays in the settlement payment, Noem called Jackley out for stalling. Jackley swung back with accusations of campaign sabotage.

Jackley's office maintains there was no intent to delay finalizing the settlement. The paperwork for the settlement arrived Friday, and the Office of Risk Management finalized settlement paperwork Monday, according to a news release from his office.

His campaign manager Jason Glodt, in a news release issued this evening, reiterated that take, saying Jackley had "no authority" over the settlement.

"This is nothing more than a desperate political stunt orchestrated by the Noem campaign 11 days before the election," Glodt said in the campaign release.

But Zylstra Kaiser said there were plenty of opportunities to get the matter resolved prior to this week. Settlement documents were drafted at the end of February and approved, but the state also wanted Zylstra Kaiser to sign a non-disparagement agreement. That would have meant she could talk about her case, but not talk about the state in a negative light. She said she received the agreement March 21, and her attorneys notified DCI that she would not be signing the agreement on April 4.

At that time, the settlement payment was anticipated no later than April 15, according to Zylstra Kaiser.

From that point, she said, repeated communication between her attorneys and DCI's attorney met with little to no response. DCI's attorney also had plenty of notice that the motion to enforce the settlement was being filed. Here's how Zylstra Kaiser laid out a timeline:

April 20: Communication from Zylstra Kaiser's attorneys referenced an intent to schedule a hearing with federal Judge Charles B. Kornmann.

April 30: DCI's attorney received a copy of the motion to enforce the settlement.

May 4: DCI's attorney indicated Gortmaker would sign the agreement by May 7.

May 8: New agreement was received Zylstra Kaiser's attorneys from the state with a proposed payment date of no later than June 8. Multiple attempts to contact DCI's attorney went unanswered.

May 14: Gortmaker was ordered to appear in court.

"Every week I was told today is the day," Zylstra Kaiser said in a phone interview.

In statements to the media, the attorney general's office has repeatedly said there was no intention to delay the payment. Documents were received last week and signed Monday. The attorney general's office has also indicated that the entire process has been handled by the Office of Risk Management.

While Zylstra Kaiser can't say with certainty that Jackley was involved in the settlement process, she said Jackley's name was included in the first draft of the settlement agreement, and there were times when his absence from the office was used as a reason for delays.

Zylstra Kaiser sued Gortmaker in 2015 for retaliation following an investigation of harassing comments made to her by a Brown County deputy. Zylstra Kaiser and the deputy were both members of the local drug task force a the time — 2012.

Following the investigation, and amid growing tensions between DCI agents and task force members, Zylstra Kaiser was demoted and transferred to a different DCI post in Pierre.

"I'm here today because unfortunately I feel the retaliation continues. To accuse my attorneys of conspiracy to undermine his campaign," Zylstra Kaiser said at the news conference. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jackley, it's not about you. If he wants it to be about him, he should stick to the facts and let everyone make their own decisions."

Zylstra Kaiser's husband, Dan Kaiser, is challenging incumbent Sheriff Mark Milbrandt in the Brown County GOP primary.

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Laura Zylstra Kaiser