Judge reduces Forest Service discrimination verdict; legal team seeks nearly $500K in fees, costs

Ruth Esperance, left, and her attorney, Daniel Gebhardt, in front of the federal courthouse in Rapid City. (Courtesy of Daniel Gebhardt/Solomon Law Firm)

A federal judge has reduced a former Black Hills National Forest employee’s jury award from $400,000 to $300,000, and the lawyers who won the verdict are also asking the judge to make the federal government cover nearly $500,000 in attorney fees, costs and expenses.

The judge also dismissed the defense’s effort to seek a reconsideration of the case. The defendant in the case is the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which includes the Forest Service.

The litigation centers around allegations of longstanding gender discrimination within the Black Hills National Forest. It started when District Ranger Ruth Esperance filed a lawsuit claiming a hostile work environment and an unfair reassignment from her district ranger role to a position with less responsibility.

Esperance, who served as a district ranger from 2012 to 2018, argued that her reassignment was driven by gender bias and claimed male colleagues were given preferential treatment. A jury ruled in her favor last September.

Esperance’s legal team is led by Washington, D.C.-based attorney Daniel Gebhardt of the Solomon Law Firm. Gebhardt told South Dakota Searchlight that this week’s $100,000 verdict reduction was expected, because federal law limits compensatory damages in cases such as Esperance’s to $300,000.

An updated request last week from Gebhardt and the rest of Esperance’s legal team seeks $494,491.32 from the federal government for attorney’s fees, costs and expenses. The judge has not yet ruled on that request.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Dakota represents the Ag Department and Forest Service. The office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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