Linn County pays $150K in settlement over harassment, retaliation claims

CEDAR RAPIDS — Linn County paid $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former legal assistant against the county, and initially against two prosecutors, for sexual harassment and retaliation after she was fired in July 2023.

Details of the settlement amount were not released to The Gazette until after it was approved last Wednesday by the Linn County Board of Supervisors and then voluntarily dismissed by Bonnie Waller, a former legal assistant at the Linn County Attorney’s Office.

According to the settlement, the $150,000 sum included $15,000 for claims of back pay and front pay subject to payroll taxes; $63,774 for emotional distress damages; and $71,226 to the Fiedler Law Firm, Waller’s attorney.

The settlement stipulated that the county doesn’t admit any liability and neither party admits the truth of any alleged facts, any of the characterizations of the parties’ alleged conduct or any allegations included in the documents of the lawsuit.

“While Linn County strongly disagrees with her characterization of the case, and denies any legal wrongdoing, we decided that settlement was in the best interest of the taxpayer to avoid lengthy and expensive litigation,” Linn County said in a statement last week.

The settlement agreement also will require the County Attorneys’ Office to modify Waller’s personnel file to state she voluntarily resigned. And it stipulates the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled in the future.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks, in his individual and official capacity, and first assistant prosecutor Monica Slaughter were dismissed by Waller from the lawsuit before the settlement was approved last week.

According to the lawsuit, Waller reported Slaughter, to her boss, Maybanks, after Slaughter allegedly made inappropriate comments about Waller’s body and touched her without her consent, and after Slaughter exposed herself by showing Waller a surgical scar while in the county office.

The complaint stated that Maybanks minimized the seriousness of Slaughter’s actions, and that Waller said she experienced retaliation and discrimination from Maybanks, Slaughter and other co-workers in the office

Maybanks told Waller a third party would investigate her claims.

Waller began working in the office July 26, 2021, after being hired by then-Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden. She was fired for engaging in misconduct July 28, 2023.

She filed her petition in November 2023, claiming sexual harassment, retaliation, retaliatory in violation of public policy and violation of the whistleblower statute, according to the lawsuit.

The independent investigator, according to results sent to Waller on Jan. 19, 2023, found that while Slaughter engaged in “inappropriate, offensive and unprofessional” conduct, it wasn’t sexual harassment because Waller wasn’t offended by Slaughter’s behavior and Slaughter exposed herself “without sexual intent.”

On May 5, 2023, Waller was placed on administrative leave following incidents of her listening outside a door to a meeting between Maybanks and Slaughter, and Waller going to the courthouse after hours, her suit said.

A hearing was held July 27, 2023, where Waller could hear evidence gathered by her employer and present a case before discipline was imposed. Waller then was fired July 28, 2023, for eavesdropping, recording a meeting, entering attorneys’ offices after hours, dishonesty and conduct with regards to an internal investigation, according to her suit.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com