Polk County rehires medical examiner previously fired amid lawsuit alleging discrimination
Polk County has rehired a medical examiner who was abruptly fired more than four years ago over a personnel issue.
Dr. Gregory Schmunk was rehired in April as an associate medical examiner with the Polk County Medical Examiner's office to perform autopsies. The Polk County Board of Supervisors voted to approve his two-year contract April 9 in a 3-1 vote. Supervisor Matt McCoy voted no and supervisor Robert Brownell was absent, according to meeting minutes.
Schmunk started work this week, according to Polk County Administrator John Norris.
Schmunk, who previously served as a county medical examiner for about 16 years, was abruptly fired in early 2020, with the county citing an "apparent lack of oversight ... related to ongoing personnel issues" at the time. It was subsequently revealed that county supervisors agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit from a 2017 applicant for a job in the medical examiner's office who ultimately wasn't hired. James Sargent, who alleged he was turned down for the job because of his sexual orientation, filed the lawsuit against Schmunk and a former chief investigator Amanda Luick, who also was fired.
After the county settled, Schmunk contacted Reader's Watchdog to provide Sargent's civil rights complaint, a memo detailing the outcome of an internal human resources investigation into his office, as well as an employee's audio recording of him, Luick and other employees discussing Sargent and other job applicants. At the time, he hoped to show that he and Luick were not "anti-gay."
A timeline contained in Sargent's lawsuit shows managers' terminations came just days after Sargent filed a discrimination complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, a step that precedes a formal civil rights lawsuit like the one he later filed in district court.
On Tuesday, Norris told the Des Moines Register the county is "capitalizing" on Schmunk's skills to fill a gap at the medical examiner's office given a national shortage of forensic pathologists. Schmunk has no administrative or management responsibilities in his new role, Norris said.
"The bottom line is that we can't do one person, one forensic pathologist. We have a load for two full-time forensic pathologists at our county medical examiner's office," he said.
"But he is an excellent forensic pathologist," Norris said of Schmunk. "Law enforcement was extremely pleased we brought him back in. He's on several national boards for forensic pathologists, helped write some of the practices and procedures they follow nationally. So we're really fortunate to get his expertise back into the lab."
Schmunk did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.
When asked by the Register if there were concerns about toxicity in the workplace with Schmunk's return — a remark some county examiner employees previously made — Norris responded there were none. He reiterated Schmunk will not be working in an administrative capacity.
The hire is a cost-saving measure for taxpayers, Norris added. The county currently has a staffing capacity for two forensic pathologists that conduct an average of 500 autopsies annually.
For over a year, the county had been contracting with the state to provide about 250 autopsies annually due to one forensic pathologist's vacancy in the county's office. The state charges a base fee of $1,900 per autopsy, according to Norris, which equates to about $475,000 or more per year.
Under the new contract, Schmunk's annual base salary is $260,000. If Schmunk conducts more than the industry standard of 252 autopsies in his first year, he'll get an additional $1,200 for each autopsy performed, according to the contract.
Norris said the county for a short time was without any pathologists, following the exit of chief medical examiner Dr. Joshua Akers in 2022, who was tapped to lead after Schmunk's firing. After Akers left, the county contracted with the State Medical Examiner to perform all autopsies. The county hired Dr. Joseph Blitman as chief medical examiner in October 2023, who has since been working full-time.
Norris said hiring Schmunk will enable the county to bring all of the autopsy exams back in-house.
Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on Twitter at @vbarreda2.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Polk County rehires medical examiner who it previously fired
