Iowa universities pay thousands in settlements

IOWA CITY – Iowa's public universities have signed settlement agreements with hundreds of employees in recent years, with lump-sum payments totaling about $1.3 million.

The University of Iowa paid more than $800,000 in settlement payments between Jan. 14, 2011, and April 2, according to 400 pages of documents the Iowa Board of Regents released Wednesday in response to media requests.

The regents redacted confidential personal information from some files.

The largest settlements went to professors who agreed to retire or resign quietly.

The UI paid Morris Dailey, an associate pathology professor, $275,000 to retire in 2012. The settlement agreement, signed Nov. 3, 2011, occurred after 'amicable discussion” about Dailey's retirement. In addition to the cash, the UI agreed to continue contributing to Dailey's medical insurance through May 2015.

Neuroscientist David Rudrauf, who studies how brain damage can affect self-awareness, got $162,458 from the UI to dismiss a host of grievances against the university and resign Oct. 1, 2011. His settlement deal also provides for 'sharing of mutually-owned and generated data.”

Iowa State University had 34 settlements with 30 employees and a total payout of $322,000.

The University of Northern Iowa agreed to at least $150,000 in settlement payments. The bulk, $125,000, went to Dianne Bascom, a former account clerk who claimed she suffered discrimination and retaliation.

The $1.3 million total doesn't include situations in which the schools paid health benefits, back pay or salary until an employee's resignation took effect.

In some cases, the UI, responding to grievances filed by AFCSME on behalf of the employee, agreed to let an employee resign rather than be fired. The UI also agreed, in dozens of cases, to reverse suspensions or return pay that was withheld during suspensions.

Gov. Terry Branstad and his administration have acknowledged a dozen state agencies have entered into 25 secret settlements with employees totally about $500,000. In many of these cases, employees were offered additional money to keep quiet about their termination.

Although many of the university deals have confidentiality clauses, they note the deals are subject to Iowa's Open Records Law.

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