KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Council has agreed to settle the seventh of eight discrimination lawsuits stemming from the reorganization of the city prosecutor’s office.
The council on Thursday approved a $500,000 settlement with Cynthia Holmes, a former assistant city prosecutor. The settlement brings the total taxpayer outlay to nearly $2 million for the seven lawsuits. The remaining case is set for a September trial.
The Kansas City Star reports the eight related lawsuits stem from converting the Kansas City municipal prosecutor’s office in 2011 from 16 part-time prosecutors to eight full-time prosecutors.
Eight attorneys who had worked for years as part-time prosecutors who filed lawsuits applied for the new full-time jobs but were not selected. They alleged age, gender and/or race discrimination because several younger, less experienced lawyers were hired.