State settles alleged political firing cases for $160,000

The state has paid a cash settlement to a second former employee who alleged her firing early in the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy was political, not based on merit or job performance.

A former assistant public advocate for the state will receive $75,000 as part of a settlement in a case she brought against Dunleavy, a former chief of staff and the state that alleged wrongful firing.

Kelly Parker agreed to drop her lawsuit as part of the agreement, signed last month, the Anchorage Daily News reported last Thursday. The agreement says nothing in it should be deemed an admission of liability by the state.

The case was one of three filed after the Dunleavy administration, as part of its December 2018 transition into office, asked at-will employees to submit resignation letters and reapply for their jobs. Parker and others alleged it amounted to a loyalty pledge.

Attorneys for the state Department of Law, in court filings, disputed Parker’s description. The Department of Law did not respond to a question asking why it settled the case.

In a separate challenge, the state agreed to settle for $85,000 with a former employee whose job application was rejected because she supported the recall of the governor.

The out-of-court settlement was announced April 26 by the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Keren Lowell, a former employee for the Alaska State Council on the Arts.

Lowell worked for the arts council in 2019 when Dunleavy vetoed the organization’s funding and Lowell lost her job. She then became involved in the recall effort. When the Legislature restored the council’s funding and Dunleavy approved it, Lowell reapplied for her job. She was told by email that her application was rejected because of “statements made on social media about the governor.”

Lowell said the action was a violation of her right to free speech, and she took the case to the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska.

The ACLU threatened legal action but no lawsuit was filed before the settlement. The ACLU cited state law that prohibits the use of “political beliefs” as a reason to hire or not hire a person for most state jobs.

The Department of Law did not respond to questions.