Iowa settles suit over another inappropriate sexual relationship at Eldora state school
The state of Iowa will pay $60,000 to settle a lawsuit involving a former staffer who said he had a sexual relationship with the then-superintendent at the State Training School at Eldora and was the victim of sexual harassment and retaliation.
The Iowa Board of Appeals agreed to pay the settlement to Jacob Manship, 49, of Union, who alleges he was forced to resign from the residential home for delinquent youth in February 2022.
Manship alleged in a civil lawsuit filed in March 2023 against the state and the school that while employed there, he suffered quid pro quo sexual harassment by then-Superintendent Wendy Leiker, who resigned in August 2022 after just 11 months on the job. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services officials said at the time that Leiker resigned voluntarily during a "confidential personnel investigation."
Leiker could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
In its answer to Manship’s lawsuit, a lawyer for the Iowa Attorney General's Office denied Leiker sexually harassed Manship, but did acknowledge the two had a sexual relationship and that she promoted him. The state also denied that Leiker offered Manship the promotion in 2021 in exchange for sex acts, and that she gave him a disproportionate and unmanageable workload when he tried to break off the relationship.
In the lawsuit, also alleging defamation of character, tortious interference and intentional infliction of emotional distress, Manship alleged he reported the sexual harassment internally to his immediate supervisor, Larry Cranston. He also alleges he was harassed by coworkers who blamed him for Leiker's resignation, which the state denied.
Settlement comes after another sex scandal at Eldora
The settlement, which includes $5,000 for Manship’s wife and $20,000 for his attorneys, comes just over a month after Leiker's replacement as superintendent, Jason Sodders, was fired along with the deputy superintendent and treatment program administrator at the school following an investigation into allegations that a counselor had an inappropriate relationship and phone sex with a delinquent boy.
The school also has been under federal court monitoring for years to improve treatment of youth in its care. Despite much training, hiring, renovations, new spending and a shrinking population at the facility, however, allegations of sexual abuse and harassment by staff and students have continued, federal audit reports obtained this year under the open records law showed.
More: Judge orders halt to use of restraint device at Iowa detention facility for boys; calls it 'torture'
Manship filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in January 2022. He took leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, then resigned the same month.
Later, he alleged, two job offers he had received from state prisons in Mitchellville and Newton were rescinded after Sodders contacted the prisons. The state denied Sodders intervened.
“Mr. Sodders also sent an e-mail to all (State Training School) employees which indicated that Jacob was banned from the premises and directed STS employees and Switchboard to take action in the event that Jacob was seen on campus,” the lawsuit says.
The Iowa Civil Rights Commission deemed Manship's complaints of sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination worthy of further investigation. But the State Appeal Board declined to act on his tort claim within six months, so he brought it to district court, his lawsuit says.
Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Sex allegations continue at Eldora school; another settlement paid
