![Lake Street Cultural Connect gatherings are held every other month to bring folks together to maintain the cultural vibrancy of Lake Street. Patrick's Cabaret's Executive artisitc director Scott Artley who had applied for the Musser Fund is happy with he settlement.] Patrick's Cabaret and the Laura Jane Musser Fund have settled a discrimination suit for $12,000 that was filed with the state Department of Human Rights in November. Richard Tsong-Taatarii ï richard.tsong-taatarii@startribune.c](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/ZKAG6NOJCVJ5GFBNVKVFVG5STM.jpg?&w=1080)
When Scott Artley, executive artistic director of Patrick's Cabaret, inquired about why the Laura Jane Musser Fund denied his group's 2015 grant proposal to help fund opportunities for guest curators, he was "shocked" by the response.
The Musser Fund, a private family foundation based in Minneapolis, allegedly told Artley in a voice mail that one reason it was rejected was because the board is "conservative" and they "have grappled" with " ... whether they want to consider GLBT issues as something that they want to address" in awarding grants.
"I played the voice mail out loud and after it finished, my intern turned around and asked, 'What year is it?' " Artley said Wednesday.
Artley filed a discrimination charge with the state Department of Human Rights against the Musser Fund in November, alleging that the philanthropy organization "violated certain provisions of the Minnesota Human Rights Act" by refusing to "accept its proposal and provide funding because [Patrick's Cabaret] is associated with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community," according to the charge.
The two parties reached a settlement on Aug. 4, following two days of mediation.
"The Musser Fund made no omission of any liability that their grant decisions were based on any discriminatory factors," said Neal T. Buethe, the fund's attorney, on Wednesday. "We did settle the case because we tried to make it a positive and made sure diversity is built into the grant application process and ensure that Musser Fund is responsive to the concerns this charge embodied."
As part of the settlement, the Musser Fund paid Patrick's Cabaret $12,000. It also agreed to diversity training and updating its policy to highlight the impact of diversity in a grant application.
"We are not privy to the Musser Fund's staff and board conversations leading to funding decisions, but regardless of past grant decisions, discrimination can take place at any point. We feel confident, however, that the Musser Fund has sought to improve its practices because of our intervention," Patrick's Cabaret said in a news release.
