Branstad: I didn’t punish employee for being gay

DES MOINES — Gov. Terry Branstad has denied knowing that former state Workers' Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey was gay or that it would have influenced his decision to lower the commissioner's pay even if he did.

Nearly 3,000 pages of testimony in depositions in the former state appointee's $1 million lawsuit against Gov. Terry Branstad, released Wednesday, range from who knew he was gay and whether that influenced the governor's decision to what constitutes a smartphone.

The depositions of Godfrey, the governor and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and former members of their administration were among those released through the Attorney General's Office.

Godfrey was confirmed to a six-year term as workers' compensation commissioner in 2009. When Branstad was elected in 2010, he asked Godfrey to resign. After Godfrey declined twice, Branstad cut his $112,068-a-year salary by $36,000 in 2011.

Godfrey sued Branstad and members of his staff in 2012, asserting defamation, harassment, sexual discrimination and extortion.

Godfrey left his state job last year for a position ruling on workers' compensation disputes involving federal employees with the U.S. Department of Labor.

In the depositions, Godfrey attorney Roxanne Conlin questioned Branstad — who defeated her in the 1982 race for governor — at length about homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Branstad insisted that although he believes marriage should be between one man and one woman, he accepted the 2009 Varnum case striking down Iowa's prohibition to same-sex marriage as 'the law of the land.'

In response to Conlin's questions, Branstad repeatedly separated himself from those who campaigned to remove Iowa Supreme Court justices who were part of the unanimous decision.

'I am not Bob Vander Plaats,' he said at one point, referring to the president of the conservative group the Family Leader and his primary opponent in 2010.

Branstad insisted his decision to seek Godfrey's removal was based on complaints from Iowa businesses about rulings in worker comp cases that were driving up the cost of doing business.

'Well, I just knew I had heard from a lot of people that they felt that (Godfrey) was biased against the employers and that the workers' comp commissioner needs to be somebody that's going to be fair and objective to all parties,' Branstad said under oath.

In his testimony, Godfrey acknowledged the governor has the authority to set the commissioner's salary within a range established by the Legislature. However, Godfrey said the governor did not have the authority for the action he took.

In answering a long series of questions from attorney George LaMarca, who is representing Branstad and other defendants, Godfrey said he could not be sure that Branstad knew he was gay. It wasn't a secret, he said, and the issue had come up during his Senate confirmation hearings. Reynolds was a member of the Senate at that time, he added, but none of the defendants ever asked him about his sexual orientation.

Conlin asked defendants about how they communicated. Specifically, she sought information about emailing, texting and social media.

Branstad told her he didn't have a smartphone or an email address. However, later he talked about getting daily briefings on his phone, which prompted this exchange:

CONLIN: Governor, you told me that you did not have a smartphone, but apparently you do.

BRANSTAD: I have a BlackBerry, not a —

CONLIN: That's a smartphone.

BRANSTAD: It is?

CONLIN: I think so.

BRANSTAD: I don't know. It's just an old-fashioned BlackBerry.

CONLIN: It's not a dumb phone.

Neither LaMarca nor Conlin were available to comment on the depositions or the case.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com