University of Iowa law school discrimination suit will go back to court

IOWA CITY - A University of Iowa College of Law employee who sued the school's leaders for political discrimination will get a new trial.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday sent Teresa Wagner's lawsuit back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, which the Court of Appeals said 'abused its discretion” in denying Wagner's motion for a new trial when a jury deadlocked in October 2012.

Wagner claims in her lawsuit the law school dean and former dean improperly passed over Wagner for jobs because of her conservative views.

Jurors in 2012 returned a mixed verdict, finding Wagner didn't face discrimination under the First Amendment, but deadlocked on whether her constitutional rights to equal protection were violated. A magistrate initially declared mistrials on both counts, but later, outside the presence of Wagner or her attorney, polled the jurors and found they reached a verdict on one count, according to the Court of Appeals decision.

'Today, we hold, in a case such as the present one, where a court declares a mistrial and discharges the jury which then disperses from the confines of the courtroom, the jury can no longer render, reconsider, amend, or clarify a verdict on the mistried counts,” the Court of Appeals wrote.

The court also questioned whether the District Court embraced earlier guidance about informing the jury about the shifting burden of proof in the case.

The Court of Appeals reversed the District Court's order denying Wagner a new trial on the First Amendment charge, vacated the judgment and remanded it for a new trial.

Wagner's attorney proposed a settlement with the UI last year that would have made Wagner a full time legal writing instructor and given her $400,000. The Iowa Attorney General's Office, representing UI administrators, declined the offer. Wagner is on staff with the UI College of Law Writing Center.