Meskwaki discharges assistant chief of police after sexual harassment claims

The assistant chief of police for the Meskwaki Nation was discharged following accusations of sexual harassment, according to records released last week.

The dismissal comes nine years after Jason Dunagan was dismissed from the Keokuk Police Department for being 'unable to fulfill the duties” of a police officer.

Dunagan had been working full-time as assistant chief for Meskwaki Nation since February when he was accused by co-employees on July 28 of 'repeated inappropriate conduct which amounted to sexual harassment.” Dunagan was suspended with pay on Aug. 6 and discharged on Aug. 18 for violating the Sac & Fox Tribe's anti-discriminatory harassment and sexual harassment policies.

The termination was appealed by Dunagan but upheld by the Tribe.

Dunagan does not have a listed number and could not be reached for comment. The Meskwaki Nation Police Department and the council for the Sac & Fox Tribe did not return messages seeking comment.

Dunagan had been denied unemployment benefits on Oct. 7. He appealed, but Administrative Law Judge Susan D. Ackerman upheld the previous decision on Nov. 7, at which point the details of the case became public.

Ackerman's ruling detailed several allegations:

Dunagan admitted 'showing his co-workers explicit and/or nude photos of female partners. He admitted commenting to a co-employee's daughter on Snapchat that she had a 'nice tan” and a 'nice belly button ring.” After seeing a picture of another co-worker's granddaughter, (Dunagan) said that she was 'hot” and joked about waiting for her to turn 16 years old.”

In another instance, Dunagan texted a fellow officer profanity-laced comments about sexual relations between the fellow officer and a person the officer was providing a ride-along, according to the file. Dunagan disputed one of the examples of profane texting, saying his phone 'auto-corrected.”

In a final example cited, a subordinate questioned when the department began doing vehicle unlocks after Dunagan unlocked a female school employee's vehicle. Dunagan responded in front of a female ride along, saying, 'Since she was a hot teacher is when we do unlocks.”

In denying the benefits, Ackerman wrote that Dunagan showed 'a willful or wanton disregard of the standard of behavior the employer has the right to expect from an employee, as well as an intentional and substantial disregard of the employee's duties and obligations to the employer.”

This is the second time Dunagan, who's been an officer for several department in Eastern Iowa the past two decades, lost his job as an officer.

Dunagan had been working for the Keokuk Police Department for a decade when his patrol car crashed into a van, a person's home, and possibly knocked down a stop sign and damaged a fence, according to a Dec. 6, 2005 article from the Daily Gate City.

The city discharged Dunagan citing a letter from then City Attorney Thomas Marion that he 'was unable to fulfill the duties as required of a Keokuk police officer,” according to the article. His former police chief Tom Crew stood by Dunagan, saying, 'He always will be welcome here. These decisions were out of our hands,” according to the Daily Gate City article.

After he left, Dunagan held positions as a gaming enforcement investigator for Meskwaki Casino, a part-time officer for Meskwaki police, and a police officer for the Toledo Police Department. Dunagan was hired as Dysart police chief in 2012 and resigning 16 months later in May 2013. In his resignation letter, he offered three weeks notice and said he was leaving for a position with Meskwaki Nation Police Department.

Dysart Mayor Pamela Thiele said, 'He wanted to pursue other interests. There's nothing that went on that made him leave.”

In recent years, Meskwaki has also dealt with another personnel issue among its police leadership.

Earlier this year, former Meskwaki Nation police chief Christopher Knouse pleaded guilty to transferring firearms to another without a permit and received a deferred judgment. The case stemmed from a December 2012 incident in which his department filed complaints against him, including illegal weapons sales.