Iowa DNR staffer reinstated with 2 years backpay, raise after gifting sexually themed buttons

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Iowa Department of Natural Resources was ordered to reinstate an engineer fired almost two years ago for giving buttons containing sexual innuendos to a female co-worker.

Bruce Flippin will return to work Monday in his previous job classification as facilities engineer with a raise to $90,870 annually, $173,166 in backpay, and 510 hours in lost sick and vacation time, based on an Oct. 21 order released this month by the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board.

His new salary includes several missed raises, which amounts to a 12 percent pay bump above the $78,000 he earned in his last full year of employment, according to state records.

Flippin was fired Jan. 10, 2014, when the agency stated he violated work rules and the state's affirmative action and anti-discrimination policy related to sexual harassment. He had given off-color homemade buttons to a co-worker.

Flippin had worked in design and construction projects in an 18-county area in southeastern Iowa with a primary office in Muscatine, and traveled weekly to the Iowa DNR headquarters in Des Moines, where on Jan. 4, 2014, he gave two female co-workers buttons with sexually toned pictures and phrases.

One of the workers took the buttons as a joke and was not offended. The other considered them 'vile, vulgar and sexually explicit,” according to the case file. The second worker reported the buttons, which instigated the investigation.

Flippin said he didn't intend to offend anyone and the tone was in line with past interactions.

The Iowa DNR disagreed, stating in his termination letter the buttons were 'unsolicited and unwelcomed by the recipient and inappropriate for the workplace.”

Flippin appealed to the Department of Administrative Services, which handles payroll for state employees, but lost.

He appealed to PERB, which ruled in June Flippin's actions were 'unbecoming of the workplace” but warranted a three-day suspension, not termination.

The Iowa DNR fell short in its investigation and failed to use progressive disciplinary measures on Flippin, who had no prior incidents, according to PERB. Flippin and the offended co-worker had previous conversations in which she also used sexual innuendos, according to the ruling.

The Iowa DNR appealed leading to the most recent ruling, in which PERB upheld the earlier decision but said Flippin's actions warranted a five-day suspension.

The Iowa DNR declined to comment other than to say, 'We followed DNR policy and procedures and will abide by the final ruling reached by PERB.”