Court allows mother of bludgeoned Anamosa prison nurse to sue state

ANAMOSA — The lawsuit filed by the mother of a nurse who was killed by two Anamosa prison inmates in 2021 will be allowed to go forward on individual claims of wrongful death, loss of consortium and emotional distress against the state.

Stephanie Schulte’s lawsuit over the fatal assault on her daughter, Lorena Schulte, 50, of Cedar Rapids, along with corrections officer Robert McFarland, 46, of Ely, during a failed prison escape by two inmates on March 23, 2021, was dismissed by 6th Judicial District Judge Mike Harris in October 2024.

  Buy Photo

Harris ruled her claims filed as an individual and as administrator of her daughter’s estate, failed to exhaust her administrative remedies with the State Appeal Board.

The mother appealed and the Iowa Court of Appeals last Thursday upheld part of Harris’ ruling that Schulte’s claims as administrator of the estate couldn’t proceed because the estate was inadvertently closed and then reopened, but Schulte wasn’t appointed as administrator until after the statute of limitations expired.

However, the court overturned the second part of Harris’ ruling and found the mother’s claims as an individual could proceed, even if she didn’t file separate claims for the estate and herself, according to the ruling.

The court, in the ruling, stated separate claim forms were not necessary, as Harris ruled, because Schulte’s wrongful death, loss of consortium and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims, made as an individual, gave the state board sufficient information for the board to investigate the claim and alerted the board that Schulte was filing as an individual.

Schulte’s lawsuit and one filed by McFarland’s family assert inadequate training and policies, security and safety issues, understaffing and dangerous tools — “weapons”-- being available to inmates, such as hammers, which Thomas Woodward, then 34, and Michael Dutcher, then 28, used in killing the nurse and correction officer.

During the deadly incident, a prison dental assistant, Lori Mathes, and another inmate, McKinley Roby, who tried to assist those being attacked, also were injured.

Woodward and Dutcher pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, one count each of attempted murder and second-degree kidnapping. Both were sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Last month, the Iowa Supreme Court cleared the way for Sara Montague McFarland, wife of McFarland, to pursue gross negligence claims — against the Iowa Department of Corrections and prison employees — outside of the workers’ compensation system.

  Buy Photo

The court stated Iowa law makes workers’ compensation the employee’s exclusive remedy for any work-related injury against their employer or co-employees, except for gross negligence claims against co-employees, which is the basis for Montague McFarland’s suit.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette

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