Des Moines police sex harassment trial to begin in May as a plaintiff claims ongoing abuse
A years-long legal battle over alleged sex discrimination within the Des Moines Police Department is approaching trial, even as the plaintiffs raise new claims of ongoing harassment.
Five female officers and employees sued the department in 2021, alleging leaders failed to prevent or adequately respond to a wide range of misconduct, including unsolicited nude photos from male coworkers, sexist insults and unwanted touching and groping. They also allege male officers received preferential assignments and promotions female officers who complained suffered retaliation.
More than two years later, four of the plaintiffs remain part of the suit and are set to go to trial in May. In recent weeks, the court has largely rejected the city's motion for summary judgment and declined to sever one plaintiff's claims from the rest of the suit.
In court filings, attorneys for the plaintiffs have claimed the mistreatment continues, with one officer saying a police union chief confronted and harangued her about the case in November.
City's summary judgment motion denied
Defense attorneys in court filings asked the court to grant summary judgment for the city on all claims. Attorney Lindsay Vaught argued in a February hearing that the plaintiffs' allegations, spanning more than two decades and ranging from physical abuse to delayed promotions, are too unconnected and spread out to support their claims of a persistently hostile work environment.
"We’re dealing with different periods of time, different harassers, different leadership," she said.
The plaintiffs' attorneys responded that Iowa and U.S. Supreme Court precedents make clear workplace harassment should be considered holistically rather than piecemeal.
"Harassment has to be looked at as the totality of the circumstances," attorney Paige Fiedler argued in court, adding that the city has a responsibility to “take affirmative steps (to end harassment), not just play whack-a-mole.”
In ruling on the motion, District Judge Christopher Kemp found that some of the incidents alleged by the plaintiff, occurring in 2013 or prior, cannot be evidence of continuing violations because there is then a five-year gap before the next set of incidents. But he found the more recent allegations sufficient to take the case to a jury trial.
He also ruled there is a factual dispute about when department leaders were made aware of alleged sexual harassment by then-Officer and police union President Stew Barnes, leaving to the jury to decide whether the city could or should have investigated or disciplined Barnes sooner.
Barnes was accused of texting nude photos of himself and other inappropriate messages to multiple women. He retired in 2020 after being suspended pending an investigation, according to previous court filings.
Court refuses to split case into two trials
The city also argued that claims by plaintiff Capt. Cindy Donahue should be tried separately from the rest of the case, arguing her allegations were so different in timing and nature that they would cause "significant confusion and prejudice" against it by trying them together.
In an order March 29, Kemp ruled that, like the other plaintiffs, Donahue is alleging sexual harassment in the form of a hostile work environment, and that her claims should be tried with the rest of the case.
"Plaintiffs are alleging an underlying culture of sexism that affected each female employee," Kemp wrote. "... The court finds severance remains unwarranted in this case."
Des Moines police ignoring ongoing union harassment, officer says
One of the plaintiffs, Senior Police Officer Tracy Rhoads, says in court filings she was "confronted and harassed" in November by Officer Mathieu Dahlen, president of the Des Moines Police Bargaining Unit Association. Dahlen allegedly told her that her "soul was rotting," that the job was "eating her from inside out," and she should quit because remaining would "contribute to an even earlier death" from the already stressful occupation.
Dahlen connected his questions to her lawsuit, she alleged, asking her if she planned to leave if she got a settlement and about her May trial date — which, at that time, was not yet public knowledge, meaning he could only have learned it from the city's attorneys or department command staff, her attorneys believe.
Rhoads said she immediately filed a human resources complaint, but as of Feb. 13, the department's Office of Professional Standards had not taken any action, which her attorneys said was an indication the police department "fails to promptly and effectively remedy reports of harassment and retaliation." Her attorneys did not immediately respond to a message inquiring as to whether the department has since replied to that complaint.
The Des Moines Police Bargaining Unit Association did not respond to a message seeking comment on Dahlen's alleged comments.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines police harassment lawsuit to go to trial, judge rules
