DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that inappropriate comments made by supervisors and other employees about state Department of Human Services social workers do not justify a $790,000 jury award for sexual harassment. handed down a judgment.
The Des Moines Register reported Friday's ruling overrode a lower court's decision against Tracy White, a social work administrator and manager who sued the state agency in 2019, alleging widespread harassment and sexual misconduct. Overturned.
Her lawsuit alleges vile and graphic comments made by others in the office. Managers prefer female employees who are more attractive and less assertive. And there was a sexual undertone, with workers calling the woman “eye candy” and joking about the tightness of her clothes.
White, who continued to work for the department after filing her lawsuit, testified at her 2021 trial that she suffered from depression, shingles and other effects from stress related to the hostile work environment.
The jury awarded her $260,000 for past harm and $530,000 for future harm.
However, the Supreme Court failed to prove that the alleged misconduct that White personally experienced was “serious or sufficiently pervasive,” and that much of it involved harassment allegations against other employees rather than against her. The court ruled that it was.
White said the jury was hearing many of the details for the first time, and Justice Thomas Waterman wrote that “well-settled” law prevents the plaintiffs from relying on “me-too” evidence they didn't know.
White's attorney, Paige Fiedler, said in an email to the Des Moines Register that her client remains grateful to the jury for siding with him and that the Supreme Court ignored the evidence. They accused the jury of a pattern of invalidating their findings of fact.
“When judges choose not to follow precedent, they typically overturn the precedent or explain why the precedent does not apply. They simply add references to past cases that contradict the ruling. It should not be omitted,” Fiedler wrote.
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