Daniel Bice
A top Department of Justice official has decided to retire two weeks after she was removed from her position and put on administrative leave by the agency.
Tina Virgil, administrator for the Division of Criminal Investigation, announced she had decided to retire after 32 years in state government. She has served under five attorneys general, who oversees the 800-employee Department of Justice.
"As the first African-American woman to serve in an upper management role at DOJ in the history of the State, she is proud of all that she accomplished in her career with the State and wishes all at the DOJ the best," said Tamara Packard, a Madison attorney representing Virgil.
In a letter to Department of Justice staff, Virgil said her retirement will take effect Oct. 24.
Just two weeks ago, Virgil was removed as head of the criminal investigation division, the investigative arm for the department, and put on administrative leave, said a spokeswoman for the agency. Earlier, human resources officials had conducted interviews with her staff.
Neither agency officials nor Virgil provided details on the internal personnel review. Packard said Virgil retired in good standing.
Jake Jansky, director of the agency's Human Trafficking Bureau, has been named interim administrator of the Division of Criminal Investigation.
In 2021 Virgil filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission saying she was appointed chief of DOJ's Division of Law Enforcement Services at a salary below her predecessor, a white male. Her complaint also said she had more experience than any other administrator in the Department of Justice but was paid less than all but one, based on 2019 data.
All the other administrators were white at the time.
In addition, Virgil argued that she was underpaid and harassed at work because she’s a Black woman.
Attorney General Josh Kaul disputed the allegations, saying Virgil was the sixth highest paid of 10 administrators at the time she filed the complaint and that she was paid less than her predecessor because the job's responsibilities had changed.
Kaul also asked two University of Wisconsin System attorneys to look into allegations Virgil raised against three top administrators. The report did find some problems in the agency but concluded the three officials did not contribute to a hostile workplace environment.
While the complaint was pending, Kaul promoted Virgil, naming her the agency's new administrator of the Division of Criminal Investigation in December. As a result, Virgil's pay jumped from $116,022 annually to $132,870 per year. Her final salary with the department was $150,924 annually.
The agency eventually agreed to pay $46,276 in tax dollars to settle the complaint.
Under the settlement, the state paid her Madison firm, Pines Bach LLC, $23,500. Virgil received a check for $13,000 and a payroll check for $9,776.20 for a total of $22,776.20. The settlement letter said the payroll check reflected "deductions for the usual employee withholdings."
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
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