MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - Former state Representative Sheryl Albers has dropped her federal lawsuit which claimed that she was not hired for a non-partisan state job because she served as a Republican.

Albers cried foul after former Democratic finance co-chair Mark Pocan did not hire her for a clerk’s job with the Joint Finance Committee in 2009.

State attorneys argued that her previous record as a legislator disqualified her because of her history of partisanship. But her attorney now says her case is more difficult to win because of a recent federal judge’s ruling.

Judge Barbara Crabb of Madison said it was okay for a government employer to consider a job applicant’s record of partisan activity in a hiring decision.

Albers then withdrew the lawsuit – as well as a pair of discrimination complaints filed with state and federal employment panels.

She represented the Reedsburg area in the Assembly for 18 years, ending in 2009.