Statewide Iowa — State officials have approved a 135-thousand dollar settlement to a former state employee who alleged she was sexually harassed by her boss at the Woodward State Resource Center, the state-run facility for residents with intellectual disabilities.
The State Appeal Board approved the settlement Monday, but State Auditor Rob Sand, a member of the board, voted no. He says the former supervisor who committed the harassment should be held accountable, not Iowa taxpayers.
In 2019, Sand also opposed having the State of Iowa use more than four-million dollars in taxpayers’ money to settle two sexual harassment lawsuits brought against the former director of the Iowa Finance Authority. The governor already had fired Dave Jamison over the allegations.
The state’s solicitor general argued settling Jamison’s case was in the best interest of the state because it avoided what could have been a costly trial and also respected Jamison’s victims. In this latest case, Maria Hernandez filed a lawsuit accusing Joel Taylor, her supervisor at the Woodward Resource Center, of retaliating against her after she accused him of sexual harassment and discrimination. The state admits no wrongdoing in settling the case and is paying Hernandez more than 80-thousand dollars. Her attorneys will be paid 55-thousand.
