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Aug. 26, 2024 |  By: Jason Hancock - Missouri Independent

Administrative law judges sue Missouri governor for wrongful termination, withheld salary

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By Jason Hancock - Missouri Independent

A pair of administrative law judges are suing the Parson administration claiming wrongful termination and illegal withholding of salary. 

Ryan Asbridge, who has served as an administrative law judge since 2019, and Gina Mitten, who has served since 2021, filed a lawsuit last week in Cole Circuit Court. 

They allege the administration of Gov. Mike Parson declared them at-will employees without any authority to do so, thus allowing Mitten to be dismissed and Asbridge’s pay to be withheld while he was on active military duty.

Administrative law judges are appointed by the governor and handle cases involving things such as worker’s compensation. They receive a roughly $120,000 salary. 

In May, Mitten says she was contacted by Parson’s director of the division of worker’s compensation dismissing her from her position. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs argue that state law is clear that administrative law judges can only be discharged or removed after receiving three or more votes of no confidence two years in a row from a five-member review committee that audits their performance. 

Administrative law judges are also subject to retention votes every 12 years by the review committee. 

Lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to change this process over the years, and the lawsuit notes that during legislative hearings the Parson administration admitted that there is no other process for removing administrative law judges other than the review committee. 

Judges can also be removed if the legislature doesn’t allocate enough money to cover all salaries. But the lawsuit says the Department of Labor budget has funding for 28 administrative law judges, including Mitten and Asbridge. 

Asbridge is still listed as an administrative law judge, though the lawsuit says he has been on a military leave of absence for the last three years. A major in the United States Air Force Reserves, Asbridge’s deployment on active duty began in November 2021 and had previously been extended through at least August. 

He continued to receive his salary from the state while deployed with the Air Force. According to the lawsuit, Missouri law requires the state to pay salaries of administrative law judges regardless of the hours they work. There is no provision in state law, the lawsuit says, that authorizes the department to withhold Asbridge’s salary. 

Asbridge’s three years of military leave was “an expense beyond what the citizen of Missouri should be responsible for supporting,” the workers compensation division director wrote in a letter included with the lawsuit. 

Mitten is asking to be reinstated and provided back pay, and Asbridge is asking for back pay withheld since June. 

Spokesmen for the governor and the office of administration, which handles payroll for the state, did not respond to a request for comment. In addition to Parson and Office of Administration Commissioner Ken Zellers, named defendants in the lawsuit include Attorney General Andrew Bailey and the director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Anna Hui.