ST. LOUIS – Sen. Scott Sifton, D-St. Louis, asked that Missouri Veterans Commission Director Larry Kay step down from his position after Kay and the commission lost a 2.875 million jury verdict in a sexual discrimination and harassment case Thursday.
“The Missouri Veterans Commission cannot countenance discrimination or harassment. The Commission’s employees provide vital services to our veterans,” Sifton said. “They need and deserve a work environment free from the kind of hostility the jury found occurred.”
Pat Rowe Kerr, a former employee of the commission, said she was fired in Nov. 2009 for no reason other than her gender, highlighted by Kay’s actions in during his time in serving as the highest ranking U.S. military personnel in Kosovo from 2008 to 2009 where female workers said they were fired to promote their male counterparts who had less knowledge of the jobs they would be doing.
“The person heading the Missouri Veterans Commission needs to be fair-minded and focused on the needs of veterans,” Sifton added. “I do not see how Larry Kay can continue to lead this important agency in light of the jury’s decision.”
Kay has served as executive director of the commission since Aug. 2008.
