Duluth family that claimed years of race-based harassment get settlement from city

DULUTH – A Duluth family that filed a federal lawsuit against several city officials alleging more than a decade of race-based harassment will receive a $135,000 lump-sum settlement from the city of Duluth within 30 days.

Much of Aaron and Amy Kirk’s lawsuit, which includes incidents dating back to the early 2000s, was tossed out in March by a federal judge because it had exceeded the statute of limitations — but a claim against officer Sara Schutte, the arresting officer at a more recent road rage incident, stuck. The City Council approved the payout as part of its consent agenda on Monday.

Aaron Kirk, who is Black, was arrested in the street in front of his West Duluth home on June 20, 2020, after a dispute with another driver, Dustin James Turcotte, who reportedly called him by a racial slur. After the altercation, both Turcotte and Kirk left the scene. Kirk ended up in jail; the other driver received a citation.

“We’re pleased,” said Phillip F. Fishman, one of the Kirks’ Bloomington-based attorneys. “There was a claim made against officer Schutte for singling out Aaron for treatment that was not necessary. The other gentleman, Turcotte, was the real offender. The court and the city of Duluth recognized that.

“I think they did right by that. The plaintiff is pleased.”

As part of the settlement, the Kirk family won’t pursue further charges and the defendants do not claim fault.

The Kirks said they had more than 100 interactions with the Duluth Police Department since Aaron Kirk moved into the West Duluth neighborhood around 2005.

Most of the police calls started with complaints from the Kirks’ then-next door neighbors. They reported the family because the dog was barking, they believed there was a methamphetamines lab on the property. They called because Aaron Kirk seemed like he was planning on stealing construction materials. The Kirks describe the reports as “false and baseless accusations” in the lawsuit.

Police officers responded to the calls, but most often allegations were unfounded. Through all of this, the neighbors weren’t cited.

By the time the Kirks filed their lawsuit, it was too late.

“The neighbors’ last actionable incident of harassment occurred more than six years before the Kirks filed this lawsuit, and therefore the Kirks cannot show that they acted diligently or that any exceptional circumstance prevented them from filing their lawsuit during the six-year limitations period,” Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz wrote in his decision.

Dashboard camera footage from the June 10, 2020, incident showed a truck leaving a West Duluth credit union just as Schutte pulls into the parking lot. Kirk leaves the bank waving his arms and directing her to follow the truck. He tells her that the man called him a racial slur and threatened him. A bystander confirms his story with the police officer.

Kirk left the bank and was arrested in front of the family’s home. He was held in the St. Louis County jail for the weekend, but charges against him — including assault with a deadly weapon and fleeing a police officer — were dropped.

Fishman said the Kirk’s case against Turcotte, who is listed as a defendant in the original lawsuit, is still to be determined. He is considered to be in default because he hasn’t pleaded or otherwise defended his actions, according to court documents.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to do with that,” Fishman said.