The Cole County Courthouse in downtown Jefferson City (Annelise Hanshaw/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.