Wisconsin settles DOJ administrator’s discrimination complaint

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Department of Justice has agreed to pay an agency administrator $46,276 to resolve her discrimination complaints.

The department signed the settlement with Division of Criminal Investigation Administrator Tina Virgil on May 17, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Virgil filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year alleging that she was paid less as chief of the department’s law enforcement services division than her predecessor because she’s a Black woman.

She also alleged she faced abuse because of her race and gender.

Attorney General Josh Kaul, who races re-election in November, promoted her to DCI administrator while the complaint was pending, bumping her pay from $116,000 to almost $133,000 annually.

Virgil filed a federal lawsuit this past January alleging Kaul and Deputy Attorney General Eric Wilson violated her civil rights. Online court records indicate Virgil dropped the lawsuit on May 17, the day she signed the settlement with the Justice Department.

The agency’s spokeswoman, Gillian Drummond, said that an outside investigation found no evidence supporting work rule violations against Virgil but the department decided to settle the matter to avoid spending more money on litigation.