Three Women Drivers Win $130K Each in Discrimination Case

MINNEAPOLIS - A federal judge has awarded damages to three Minnesota women who sued after they were dismissed from their chauffeur jobs because a Saudi prince wanted only male drivers.

U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen on Thursday awarded $130,000 each to Gretchen Cooper, Barbara Herold and Lisa Boutelle. In November, Ericksen ruled in favor of the three women, who filed a gender discrimination lawsuit in 2012.

The judge awarded the women damages for mental anguish and lost wages, but no punitive damages.

The women were among 40 drivers hired in October 2010 to chauffeur Prince Abdul-Rahman bin Abdul-Aziz, his family and friends while the prince was treated at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

The lawsuit says the prince and his entourage told the limousine companies that they wanted male chauffeurs. Women in Saudi Arabia are prohibited from driving.