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Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines Timeline
The case of Jenson v. Eveleth Mines
Time span: 23 years
March 25, 1975: Lois Jenson begins work at Eveleth Taconite, in the mines.
October 5, 1984: Lois mails complaint to the Minnesota Human Rights Department. A week later, her
car tires are slashed in retaliation.
January 1987: The state determines probable cause and requests Ogelbay Norton Co., the
Cleveland-based part owner and manager of the mine, pay Lois $11,000 in damages. The company
refuses.
January 3, 1988: Lois secures Paul Sprenger as her attorney.
August 15, 1988: Sprenger files Lois E. Jenson and Patricia S. Kosmach v. Eveleth Taconite Co. in U.S.
District Court in Minneapolis, asking that the suit be certified as a class action.
August 27, 1988: Afraid of retaliation, women working in the Eveleth Mines circulate a petition speaking
out against the lawsuit. All claimed to have never been sexually harassed, even though they all had.
December 16, 1991: U.S. District Court Judge James Rosenbaum makes legal history by permitting
Jenson v. Eveleth to proceed as the first class action ever for sexual harassment.
January 25, 1992: Lois stops working at the mine. She is soon diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, along with another member of the class action suit.
December 17, 1992: The trial to determine liability begins before U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle in St.
Paul.
May 14, 1993: Judge Kyle rules that Eveleth Mines is liable for not preventing sexual harassment. He
orders the company to develop programs to educate all employees on sexual harassment, and create a
sexual harassment policy.
Summer 1993: Retired federal magistrate Patrick McNulty of Duluth is named special master to oversee
a trial to determine how much money the women should receive in damage awards.
February 15, 1994: McNulty permits the company's lawyers to request medical records of all of the
women dating from birth. For the next six months the women are subjected to degrading grilling about
their personal and sexual lives in long depositions.
November 7, 1994: Pat Kosmach dies after living several years with Lou Gehrig's disease.
January 17, 1995: The first half of the trial for damages takes place in Duluth and ends June 13.
March 28, 1996: McNulty writes a report, calling the "histrionic," and makes public sordid details about
their private lives. He awards them each only an average of $10,000. Soon after, McNulty is arrested for
shoplifting.
December 5, 1997: Judge Donald Lay and the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals reverses McNulty's opinion,
saying that the brutal treatment of the women in the mines should be "clear." The court orders a new
jury trial for the damages.
December 30, 1998: On the day before the jury trial, fifteen women settle with Eveleth Mines for a total of
$3.5 million.
Sources: 50, 51, Booknoise
Time span: 23 years
March 25, 1975: Lois Jenson begins work at Eveleth Taconite, in the mines.
October 5, 1984: Lois mails complaint to the Minnesota Human Rights Department. A week later, her
car tires are slashed in retaliation.
January 1987: The state determines probable cause and requests Ogelbay Norton Co., the
Cleveland-based part owner and manager of the mine, pay Lois $11,000 in damages. The company
refuses.
January 3, 1988: Lois secures Paul Sprenger as her attorney.
August 15, 1988: Sprenger files Lois E. Jenson and Patricia S. Kosmach v. Eveleth Taconite Co. in U.S.
District Court in Minneapolis, asking that the suit be certified as a class action.
August 27, 1988: Afraid of retaliation, women working in the Eveleth Mines circulate a petition speaking
out against the lawsuit. All claimed to have never been sexually harassed, even though they all had.
December 16, 1991: U.S. District Court Judge James Rosenbaum makes legal history by permitting
Jenson v. Eveleth to proceed as the first class action ever for sexual harassment.
January 25, 1992: Lois stops working at the mine. She is soon diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, along with another member of the class action suit.
December 17, 1992: The trial to determine liability begins before U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle in St.
Paul.
May 14, 1993: Judge Kyle rules that Eveleth Mines is liable for not preventing sexual harassment. He
orders the company to develop programs to educate all employees on sexual harassment, and create a
sexual harassment policy.
Summer 1993: Retired federal magistrate Patrick McNulty of Duluth is named special master to oversee
a trial to determine how much money the women should receive in damage awards.
February 15, 1994: McNulty permits the company's lawyers to request medical records of all of the
women dating from birth. For the next six months the women are subjected to degrading grilling about
their personal and sexual lives in long depositions.
November 7, 1994: Pat Kosmach dies after living several years with Lou Gehrig's disease.
January 17, 1995: The first half of the trial for damages takes place in Duluth and ends June 13.
March 28, 1996: McNulty writes a report, calling the "histrionic," and makes public sordid details about
their private lives. He awards them each only an average of $10,000. Soon after, McNulty is arrested for
shoplifting.
December 5, 1997: Judge Donald Lay and the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals reverses McNulty's opinion,
saying that the brutal treatment of the women in the mines should be "clear." The court orders a new
jury trial for the damages.
December 30, 1998: On the day before the jury trial, fifteen women settle with Eveleth Mines for a total of
$3.5 million.
Sources: 50, 51, Booknoise
