St. Paul city employee alleges discrimination for brain cancer in lawsuit

An employee in the St. Paul City Attorney's Office filed a lawsuit against the city and her supervisors, saying she faced discrimination for disabilities related to brain cancer.

In a complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, Assistant City Attorney Lisa Veith alleged the city violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act on three counts.

"Veith was continuously subjected to hostile and demeaning conduct because of her disabilities, requests for reasonable accommodations, and reports of discrimination and retaliation," said the complaint, which also names City Attorney Lyndsey Olson and Deputy City Attorney Rachel Tierney as defendants.

Veith, who started working in the City Attorney's Office in 1994, went on leave for a month and a half after her diagnosis in the summer of 2018. When a doctor cleared her to return to work, she faced an increased workload from Tierney, her supervisor, according to the complaint.

Tierney denied Veith's requests for a regular workload and pressured her to work part-time, the lawsuit alleges. Veith — who at times experienced severe side effects from treatments — said she did not want to jeopardize her income and health insurance benefits given her medical condition. She "did not allow treatments, appointments, or her medical condition to interfere with accomplishing her work," the complaint said.

In March 2019, shortly after Veith complained to Olson about Tierney, Tierney issued a memo of reprimand that said Veith was failing to meet expectations, according to the complaint.

In the subsequent months, Tierney "falsely accused Veith of having performance issues and repeatedly scolded, demeaned, and made false statements about Veith in front of her co-workers," the complaint said.

Veith was placed on performance improvement plans and received a poor evaluation. She was prevented from receiving a bonus and required to have supervisors review legal advice before she sent it to clients, according to the lawsuit.

Veith filed two workplace conduct policy complaints, made a report to the city's human resources director and filed a charge of discrimination with the state Department of Human Rights.

Midway through the third-party investigation of Veith's complaint — which the lawsuit alleges was not completed promptly, fairly or completely — the city swapped investigators. In December 2020, Veith was notified that her complaints were not substantiated.

"Lisa tried to solve the problems that she was experiencing internally starting at the lowest level," her attorney, John Fabian, said Thursday. "She continues to do her job well. She's very conscientious, she loves being a lawyer and she tries to be the consummate professional."

Veith is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for economic loss and emotional distress.

In a 19-page answer to the complaint, attorneys representing the city denied most of Veith's allegations and said she declined an offer for accommodations.

"An independent investigator previously conducted a full investigation of Ms. Veith's allegations and found her claims unsubstantiated," attorney Ellen Brinkman said on behalf of the city, Olson and Tierney. "While my clients cannot comment on pending litigation, we vigorously deny the allegations and we are pursuing an early motion to dismiss."

Katie Galioto • 612-673-4478