LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The newly hired superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol was at the center of a gender discrimination lawsuit against the agency in which a female trooper was awarded damages eight years ago.

On Thursday, Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that Bradley Rice will assume the helm of the patrol. Rice retired from the patrol as a commander in 2011.

Rice was a patrol captain in Norfolk in 2004 and served on a job interview panel that twice denied trooper Carla Schreiber a promotion.

Schrieber sued and won in 2007. She was awarded $70,000 in back wages and damages, plus an additional $172,000 in attorneys’ fees.