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Tim Pugmire
ST. PAUL, Minn.

Minnesota Senate settles another Brodkorb legal bill

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A Minnesota Senate panel has approved the payment of another legal bill related to the firing of Republican staffer Michael Brodkorb.

Members of the Senate Rules Committee voted unanimously Monday to pay a bill of nearly $6,000 from an outside law firm for three months of work. The total bill is now more than $200,000.

Brodkorb filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Senate following his firing in 2011. It was later revealed that he was having an affair with then-Majority Leader Amy Koch. The current majority leader, Tom Bakk (D-Cook), said he still believes the Senate has a strong defense, because Brodkorb was an "at-will" employee.

"I think he started originally with ten charges against the Senate," Bakk said. "We're now down to just two, and they're both on the same subject, a state and a federal sex discrimination charge. Everything else has been dismissed. So, I feel pretty good about the direction it's going."

Bakk said there are no discussions to try to settle the case currently underway. Bakk said he planned to meet with the Senate GOP leaders on the matter later this week.