One of Park County’s road and bridge workers asserts she was discriminated against and denied a promotion because she’s a woman.

Starkie Cornett, who works as an equipment operator in Powell, is suing the county commissioners and its public works department in Wyoming’s U.S. District Court.

The county denies the allegations, saying it did not discriminate against Cornett. The case was recently set for an October 2024 trial.

Cornett has been pursuing the case since June 2020, when she filed complaints with the Wyoming Fair Employment Program and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“I was subjected to gender-based harassment and intimidation,” Cornett wrote at the time, saying she was denied a promotion for being “a woman in a man’s job.”

After a stint as a seasonal employee, Cornett joined the road and bridge division as a full-time equipment operator in November 2016. She said she started at $13.17 an hour with duties that included driving a commercial truck and operating equipment like a front-end loader, water truck, sweeper, plow and sander.

Cornett initially worked out of the division’s Cody shop, but — at her request, the county says — she was transferred to Powell in June 2018.

After her move to Powell, Cornett asserts that she was “separated from the rest of the work crew” and her training on new equipment ceased, stymieing her career and pay. She also alleges that the county passed her over for two higher-paying operator positions and hired two men who lacked the required qualifications and training. Cornett also alleges that she wasn’t allowed to work overtime on Fridays like her male counterparts.

In their answer to Cornett’s suit, the county denied those allegations.

In fiscal year 2020, Cornett says she made $32,041, while the two men brought in at higher levels received $34,742.60 and $43,494.36.

“Cornett had more seniority, time operating specialized equipment, and knowledge of county road systems than her male counterparts hired at higher pay rates than her,” the complaint says.

County officials have denied all of those allegations as well. For example, the county specifically rejected Cornett’s claims that she was performing “the same equivalent work” as her male colleagues.

One of several potential defenses listed by the county is that “any pay differential alleged by [Cornett] was done for a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason other than sex.”

Cornett said she’s received several promotions since joining the county, including a bump to equipment operator II in 2021. County records show she received $41,217.14 in the most recent fiscal year, which ended in June. The other two workers referenced in the suit appear to have made $41,886.90 and $51,091.33.

Cornett filed her federal lawsuit in February 2022, but the case was paused while her complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) remained pending.

The litigation resumed this summer, after the U.S. Department of Justice formally notified Cornett that she could proceed. The department said it was issuing the “right to sue” notice because more than 180 days had passed since the EEOC had assumed jurisdiction over the charge and because the department hadn’t filed a suit of its own against the county.

“This notice should not be taken to mean that the Department of Justice has made a judgment as to whether or not your case is meritorious,” the June 21 letter says.

A pretrial conference was held last week, where U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson scheduled the case for an Oct. 15, 2024 trial in Cheyenne. The parties expect a trial to take five days and indicated they may ask for it to be held in Cody or Casper.

Attorneys representing the two sides wrote in a recent filing that they’ve discussed the possibility of settling the dispute out of court, but said they “need to conduct some discovery to be able to accurately assess the prospects of settlement.”

Cornett is seeking back pay and other compensation for the losses she says she suffered from the alleged discrimination. She has also asked the court to order the public works department “to institute policies, practices and programs to ensure a non-discriminatory workplace pay and promotion practices,” including providing training to all employees and officials about compensation discrimination.

Cornett is being represented by Marshall Keller of Thermopolis and Phil Nicholas and Meggan Nicholas of Cheyenne. The county is being represented by Tom Thompson of Rawlins, who’s been retained by the county’s insurer, the Wyoming Local Government Liability Pool (LGLP).