endobj We will not be silenced. Thats a wonderful policy. WebTimothy R. Whalen, Esq. >> Erickson later apologized, admitted the conduct, and said it would stop. He said, she said, with the DCI boys holding the stay out of trouble card in the form of shared talking points. Both grievances were denied. I looked around to see if anyone was noticing. Lets hope she gets a judge that isnt in the tank for the administration. UM has more students, faculty and staff than the population of Rapid City. It caught my ear because it was so unusual to me. Statewide, SD. Kaiser was hired by DCI in 2003, and worked for eight years as a special agent on the Drug Task Force, a collaborative team consisting of officers from DCI, the Brown County Sherriffs Office and the Aberdeen Police Department. Remember, her life will be an open book before they would get through, and those low lifes arent just setting around playing racehorse pitch. Cops lives suck. << Eventually, she was forced to resign in 2012. Kaiser was on the drug task force in Aberdeen back in 2011, when she said a Brown County Sheriff's Deputy was appointed to the team and began sexually harassing her on a regular basis. This case and settlement was handled by the Governors Office of Risk Management and the States insurance company. Anyone believing Marty and the DCI want federal probes of their white boys club is delusional. On information and belief, and knowing Even would investigate Plaintiffs harassment complaint, Black worked with Erickson, Bahr, and Lunzman to formulate a set of talking points in an effort to have Plaintiff removed from the department or terminated, including planning to state they did not trust Plaintiff, she falsified the harassment to test Blacks trustworthiness, they were unwilling to work with her, and that she was mentally ill and schizophrenic[Complaint, 2015.09.23]. Then in April 2012, DCI removed Kaisers state vehicle, told her she could no longer travel from Aberdeen to Pierre on state time, removed her daily stipend, and told her that she could no longer sleep at the police academy barracks in Pierre, where she slept during the week because her family could not afford a second home. e}YQYg we2)P93,g;'t}(~ The case is titled, Laura Zyltra Kaiser v. Bryan Gortmaker, in his Official Capacity as South Dakota Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation, 15-CV-1030. No need for me romanticiz about the DCI, in my relationship with Kevin Thumb there was no love. There are just too many smart capable women in power. It is easy to figure out, the men all have the same story so they must be right and the lady a lunatic out to ruin their careers. The Court must still decide front pay, which is wage loss post-trial, and attorneys fees. ",#(7),01444'9=82. Sad, really, we were the greatest country on earth, and we cant even get this right. Indeed. 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Black then met with Erickson, DCI agent Dave Lunzman and Brown County Sherriffs Deputy Damien Bahr at a local park. . More Highway Patrol Trooper South Dakota State Government Meanwhile, Mark Black was in the Brown County DCI interrogation rooms going after the Mette children in a strategic attempt to get them to change their stories. %PDF-1.5 Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. We have only heard one side of the story and based on that, and they are part of the current administration, you folks have already tried, convicted, and sentenced them. Youve already gotten more of my time than I usually give you, sock puppet. Zylstra Kaiser filed grievances over the demotion and transferwith Gortmaker and Attorney General Marty Jackley. I filed a criminal complaint for Misprision of Felony (SDCL 22-11-12), Obstruction of Justice and Willful Failure to Perform Official Duty (SDCL 3-16-1) regarding: (SDCL 23-3-19) (SDCL 23-3-16) (SDCL 23-3-14) (SDCL 23-3-15) (SDCL 23-3-12) (SDCL 23-3-13) (SDCL 7-16-7) (SDCL 23-3-27) (SDCL 1-12-1) and (SDCL 34-20B-63). Based upon these dates, this settlement was not delayed. 2 0 obj I hope Zylstra Kaiser rips them to shreds. << Zylstra decided to talk about the harassment with fellow Aberdeen agent Mark Black, with whom she had a close relationship. (Remember, this is the same Mark Black who eventually was fired from the DCI following revelations of violent behavior toward his own wife.) LOCATION. Jenny, how about Rochester? Lastly, Lauras lawsuit is about sexual harassment, discrimination, intimidation and the retaliation that followed after she tried to report it. WebAbout us. Phone: (605) 330-4862 . WebOur special agents are full-spectrum criminal investigators, handling all manners of felony-level criminal activity. ", Lucas Kaster, one of Kaisers attorneys, stated: We are very happy for Laura. /Type /XObject Recently, Special Agent Krierwho is assigned to the DCIs Electronic Crimes Unit and Internet Crimes Zylstra resigned from DCI effective May 18, 2012. 8 days ago. On November 4, 2011, (the same day that Black interrogated the Mette children as BrownCounty and the DCIrevved up their attack on Shirley Schwab and Brandon Taliaferro in the Mette child rape case)Even put ZylstraKaiser on a 30-day Work Improvement Plan,the nine tasks of which included submitting to a psychological evaluation, which DCI had linked to her maternity leave even though Plaintiff had returned from leave nearly a year earlier and had received two positive performance reviews and a promotion since then. The WIP also ordered Zylstra Kaiser to rebuild positive relationships with co-workers, supervisors, and managers. Zylstra obeyed, butgotthe cold shoulder from co-workers, including Black, who allegedly told her on November 8, We are done. What a filthy, nasty man! Erickson acknowledged his comments were inappropriate, apologized, and said he would not make any such comments in the future [Complaint, 2015.09.23]. By doing so, it has become clear that on November 4, 2011, Mark Black was given marching orders to get rid of a few individuals who were about the expose the state of wrong doing that would ultimately lead to major lawsuits against the State of SD. [/PDF /ImageC] /XObject Then comes Brown County Deputy Ross Erickson: In or about August 2011, Brown County Deputy Ross Erickson was assigned to the Drug Task Force. Cant we raise our men to treat women better than this? Following a five-day trial in Aberdeen, South Dakota, a six-person jury returned a $1.2 million dollar verdict in favor of former South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation agent, Laura Zylstra-Kaiser. /Subtype /Image q She appliedfor jobs with the Department of Social Services, the Department of Corrections, the Department of Labor Relations, and private employers but received no offers, because, she alleges, of DCIs negative references and misrepresentations about [her]employment, demotion, discharge, and performance. She filed charges of discrimination in 2014 against those three state agencies who didnt hire her. And I have met with Jessica Page, who despite appearing to sincerely want to help the crime victim, was completely incompetent. WebIn 2018, I began my career as a Special Agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), where I was primarily charged with leading full-spectrum, complex Kaiser said the DCI attorney met her in Redfield, at his request, to give her the two checks. They got both in front of me., Erickson: Stick with me Ill take you to the promised land.. Erickson said, Thats just the way I am, but Kaiser said that was not acceptable. Kaiser was represented by James Kaster, Matt Morgan and Lucas Kaster of Nichols Kaster, PLLP in Minneapolis. there are appealable issues, but he has final say.'". WebThe South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is accepting applications for DCI Special Agent I or II at this time. Required fields are marked *. We believe the both in front of me were our individual cases. POSTED. The total warrants served in 2011 were 401. Asking Were you horny when you were pregnant?; Saying Go ahead and walk away, because I am going to stare at your ass the whole time; Texting her to ask what color underwear she was wearing; Stating it was a good thing she was not single because otherwise he would hit on her all the time; Remarking that Plaintiff looked hot when she wore glasses. Following trial, Kaiser commented: "I would like to thank the jury for their time and for giving me justice. Black, however, told other members of DCI and the Brown County Sherriffs Office about Ericksons harassment. (no offense to the Girl Scouts). I have not only watched and observed her efforts these past 3 years but supported her every step of the way as well. We would have been better off reporting these crimes to the Girl Scouts. Purpose: Conducts independent investigations or coordinates investigations with other state, WebSouth Dakota Attorney General Mark Vargo named an interim director of the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigation on Tuesday. Women were simply good, important, worthwhile people who were smart and valuable. View Background Report Sponsored Brett D Spencer 's Record in 2020 Name Brett D Spencer Location South Dakota Phone Ad View phone number Payroll Year 2020 D-D$3I20eV&,$~ n. Kaiser was transferred to Pierre, demoted from Special Agent III to Special Agent II and moved to a less desirable position. @c`m6x\^=5^'Gb68qk!b@8hg"Xv3nK2 -gW Am 8%d>!EDB8jOpG/4Ps0 Q}Y5z0VF3,=i0U`d ~o^Lq92,r+f^$-Gxpv1yGTY/0 6Lqa{b.K!hD%D*pc?X;^3 F`c!. So youre saying, Bob, dont just feign it? Then those comments would be taken out of context and used against them. How often do you contact your legislators and Congress people about these issues? WebDivision of Criminal Investigation Welcome to the DCI Website. In October 2011, Kaiser confided in fellow DCI agent, Mark Black, about how to respond to Ericksons harassment. Almost immediately, he began making sexually explicit comments to Plaintiff, revealing personal information, and making her feel uncomfortable, including, but not limited to: Now the properworkplace response to such behavior is to take this behavior straight to the boss, whose response should be to drop the hammer on the harasser. Although she successfully met eight of nine objectives, Plaintiff was involuntarily demoted from Special Agent III to Special Agent II, which resulted in a reduction in her pay. 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St~|AJtSZ]l!YBY?$@,!U82XV{/p*6)aPV%l[#gX[G|H5>>&AIX%q.&F%fF7vM4}"~W2(/:>)cS| a. >> DCI Special Agent I or II in South Dakota State Government; Rapid City, SD. FormerDivision of Criminal Investigation special agent Laura Zylstra Kaiser of Aberdeen is suingDCI chief Bryan Gortmaker and former DCI agent Mark Black for hindering her employment. Purpose: Conducts or assists with criminal I mostly agree with you Jenny. But i doubt it. She says shereceived positive performance reviews through mid-2011, when she says her mid-year evaluation praised her for her exceptional work product, ability to work amicably with other DCI agents and members of her task force, relentless work, and above-average case activity.. Thats hard to find in SD. /Parent 3 0 R DCI said they didn't have it. Since 1937, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation has served as the lifeline of support to South Dakotas law enforcement agencies, leading criminal Lets look at Zylstra Kaisers complaint, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Aberdeen, to learn what thesuit is about. My Mother first reported these crimes to agent Joshua Bobzein who was so horrible that I actually had to file a criminal complaint against Bobzein. Job ID: 18640 Location: Statewide Step 1: Complete At the conclusion of trial, the jury found in favor of Kaiser on both her retaliation and gender discrimination claims. <> My country ranch church in northwest SD was like that.