(SDBA) Senator Julie Frye-Mueller (R-Rapid City) voluntarily dismisses her lawsuit against President Pro Tem Lee Schoenbeck (R-Watertown).
Yesterday, the Senate voted 66 to 1 to reinstate Sen. Frye-Mueller but also censured her and restrict her access to Legislative Research Council staff, interns, and pages.
Her suspension last week arose from a conversation about breastfeeding and vaccinations with an LRC staffer who is a new mother.
The staffer filed a complaint last week, and Republican Senate leadership immediately suspended Sen. Frye-Mueller pending hearings by the Senate Select Committee on Discipline and Expulsion.
In the lawsuit in Federal District Court in Pierre, Sen. Frye-Mueller alleged that her First Amendment and Due Process rights were violated and the rights of her District 30 constituents were violated by the suspension.
An email to Sen. Frye-Mueller’s attorney, former House Speaker Steve Haugaard, seeking comment, has gone unanswered as of mid-afternoon Thursday.