• A Missouri judge ruled that administrative law judges do not have special job or pay protections beyond other state employees.
• The ruling upholds the firing of former administrative law judge Gina Mitten, who argued her removal was unlawful.
• Another judge, Ryan Asbridge, will only receive three weeks of pay per year while on active military duty, not his full salary.

An administrative law judge fired last year won’t be reinstated and another who took a pay cut while on active military duty won’t win back his lost salary, a Cole County judge decided.

In a ruling issued Oct. 23, Circuit Judge Cotton Walker said administrative law judges, who work in the Division of Workers’ Compensation and hear disputes over claims, are not entitled to any more job or pay protections than any other state employee.

The decision means former state Rep. Gina Mitten of Richmond Heights, who was appointed as an administrative law judge in 2021 and fired in May 2024, will not get her job back. And Ryan Asbridge, appointed in 2019 but on active duty with the Air Force since 2021, will receive only three weeks of pay each year while away from his state duties.

Mitten and Asbridge filed the lawsuit in August 2024. Andy Hirth, the attorney for Mitten and Asbridge, said they will appeal the decision.

“We basically think that the courts found in favor of the state contrary to the plain language of Missouri statutes,” Hirth said.

In the lawsuit, Mitten argued that state law is clear that...

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