Iowa State professor sues school over handling of COVID-related disability request

A tenured Iowa State University art history professor is suing her employer, the state, and three ISU supervisors for violating her civil rights in the way they responded to her COVID-related request to continue teaching online last fall due to an ongoing disability.

Emily Godbey, an art history associate professor in the ISU College of Design’s Art and Visual Culture Department, in her lawsuit filed last month accused department chair Sarah Kyle and two other supervisors of disciplining and harassing her because of her disability and request for accommodation.

“Kyle’s punitive treatment of Godbey increased in nature when Godbey submitted an accommodation pursuant to her medical provider’s recommendations to teach her classes in the fall of 2021 via an online modality,” according to the lawsuit.

“Kyle violated Iowa Code section 216.6 through her actions to discipline Godbey for work performance issues that were caused by her disability and/or her request for a disability accommodation.”

Iowa State and the rest of the defendants, represented by the Attorney General of Iowa, have asked a judge to dismiss the case — arguing, among other things, that Godbey has “failed to allege a materially adverse employment action” and included “improper parties” as defendants.

Godbey — who earned a bachelor’s with honors from Princeton University, an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design, and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Chicago — still is listed as an ISU employee in its directory.

In fall 2021, Iowa State wasn’t the only of Iowa’s public universities to face faculty pushback to Board of Regents directives barring mask, vaccine, and social distancing mandates and committing campuses to return to pre-pandemic operations.

University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, and ISU faculty penned letters to the board demanding local decision-making power on COVID precautions. UNI Professor Steve L. O’Kane was relieved of his in-person teaching duties and reprimanded for imposing a mask mandate in his class and threatening lower grades for violators.

In her lawsuit, Godbey said supervisors removed her from all teaching duties for fall 2021 — and gave her materials to another instructor without her notice or consent — after she canceled the first week of classes, which she had hoped to teach virtually.

Godbey, like most instructors across Iowa’s public universities, did all her 2020-2021 teaching online.

Heading into the 2021-22 year, regents in May issued guidance requiring a return to pre-pandemic teaching, working, and learning. And days before the fall semester’s start in August, ISU President Wendy Wintersteen held a town hall during which she affirmed the term would commence with in-person instruction; no mask or vaccine mandates; and no social distancing requirements.

ISU Provost Jonathan Wickert, at that time, noted requests to teach virtually would be considered if the instructor had a disability and, “it is determined that such change in course delivery is a reasonable accommodation.”

“Due to the lack of COVID-19 mitigation measures, Godbey experienced an episodic ‘flare-up’ of her disability and Godbey’s health provider revised her work accommodations,” according to the lawsuit. “Godbey provided documentation of these new work accommodations to her supervisor, Kyle … and requested to perform her teaching duties via online format.”

But ISU administrators didn’t respond before the semester start, according to the lawsuit, and Godbey “was forced to cancel the first week of scheduled in-person/live classes.”

On the first day of classes, Kyle told Godbey via email she was expected to teach in person for the fall, according to the lawsuit. Kyle in subsequent emails told Godbey she had to find a substitute for her classes — if she wasn’t going to teach them.

After Godbey was removed from her teaching duties, Kyle issued a “letter of direction” critiquing her performance — including her absences — and threatening discipline, according to the lawsuit. A “plan of action” for Godbey required her to teach one course during the winter session and an extra class in the spring — in addition to her other two.

The plan also gave Godbey three research-related activities to choose from, “most of which were demonstrably unreasonable and impossible to accomplish in the three-month time frame allotted,” according to the lawsuit.

“Pursuant to the Iowa State faculty handbook, winter term teaching duties are assigned by faculty member consent only and are a separately reimbursed duty above regular salary,” the lawsuit reported. “Godbey did not consent to winter term teaching and was not reimbursed for this additional teaching duty.”

Godbey in her lawsuit cited the faculty handbook in arguing “action plans” only can be issued after unsatisfactory annual evaluations, and she hadn’t yet received any.

In January, however, she got her first. Godbey sought mediation over the poor review, and Kyle refused to participate, according to the lawsuit.

For spring 2022, Godbey again sought a disability accommodation to teach online, and a human resources representative began discussing long-term disability or continuous leave — even though Godbey said she “was not applying for either of those options.”

Although ISU eventually approved her spring accommodation, Godbey’s supervisors required her to teach online synchronously — meaning live instruction, while students participate together, as opposed to a virtual recording they can access any time.

Godbey said “such control of teaching methods is a violation of the Iowa State faculty handbook,” and she resisted — based on student feedback that synchronous online instruction is a challenge due to scheduling constraints and internet connectivity issues.

Thus, in December, Kyle sent Godbey an email spelling out teaching expectations, minimum office hour requirements, a mandate she respond to email within 24 to 48 hours, and a demand that supervisors have full access to Godbey’s winter and spring courses “for the purpose of supervision and critique,” according to the lawsuit.

Her unsatisfactory review followed — meaning she couldn’t receive a raise. Two consecutive poor reviews could result in loss of tenure or termination for cause, according to the lawsuit.

Kyle’s performance review — among other things — cited Godbey’s class cancellation and modality change, “both of which were due to Godbey’s disability,” according to the lawsuit.

Godbey’s action plan said to achieve a satisfactory review in the subsequent year, she had to stick with the modality assigned for her courses — currently set in person — and report absences and class cancellations by 8 a.m.

“This requirement is currently in conflict with Godbey’s intermittent Family Medical Leave Act accommodation relating to her episodic flare-ups that result in unplanned and unscheduled absences,” according to the lawsuit.

She also was required to improve her student evaluations, “which is a completely subjective indicator that Godbey does not have control over,” she argued in the lawsuit.

“Kyle’s intent in designing the 2022 action plan was that the intended result would be unsatisfactory performance,” according to the lawsuit.

Tenured professors only can be removed for cause — including unacceptable performance of duty, described as “three to five years of documented substantial and persistent neglect of a faculty member’s position.”

Godbey’s 2022 annual review criticized her for “damaging the department’s reputation and impeding recruitment efforts.”

“Kyle’s goal is to create an environment that is hostile with impossible expectations so that Godbey will leave her employment with Iowa State University by her own consent,” according to the lawsuit.

Godbey is suing for violation of civil rights — accusing Kyle and ISU supervisors of disciplining her for “work performance issues that were caused by her disability and/or her request for a disability accommodation.”

Specifically, she’s seeking damages for emotional distress, lost wages, and attorney fees.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com