A three-day jury trial last week resulted in favor of Socket. "It was a very hard-fought case. We are obviously disappointed in the result, but now we are considering our options for appeal," Pieper's lawyer Edwin Ernst said in a message to the Tribune. Ernst is a partner in the employment and civil litigation Ernst Law Firm in St. Louis. Pieper dropped claims against Socket Chief Operating Officer Carson Coffman and a hostile work environment claim at the start of the trial. Her remaining claims were the company had allegedly violated federal law and policies surrounding a $23.7 million federal subsidy for rural broadband infrastructure, sex discrimination and unlawful discharge.