Former Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility employee awarded $1.25 million in lawsuit

MT. PLEASANT — A Polk County jury returned a verdict against the Iowa Department of Corrections and awarded former employee at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility Jennifer Wilson-Brady $1.25 million in response to her lawsuit claiming retaliation for submitting a complaint alleging sex discrimination in the workplace.

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After a four-day jury trial, nearly two years of ligation, and almost three years of fighting, Wilson-Brady finally received vindication when the Court entered the judgment in her favor and awarded $250,000 in past emotional distress and $1,000,000 in future emotional distress plus interest and court costs.

The plaintiff’s petition to the court filed in August 2022 defined the result of the Department of Corrections’ acts and omissions, stating, “Plaintiff has in the past and will in the future suffer damages including, but not limited to, mental and emotional distress; fear; anguish; humiliation; embarrassment; medical, therapeutic and other expenses; lost enjoyment of life; lost wages, benefits, future earnings, and other emoluments of employment.”

Wilson-Brady began working as a food service coordinator in the kitchen at the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility in February 2021. While Wilson-Brady said she loved her job and “felt a calling toward” it, things changed while still in her six-month probationary period.

“Byron Stevens, a correction food services coordinator for the Iowa Department of Corrections, instigated a sustained campaign of sex-based discrimination against his new co-worker, Jennifer Wilson-Brady, that began in Jennifer’s second week on the job,” the Plaintiff Trial Brief filed with Iowa Courts states. “Stevens likened his new co-worker to a ‘feminazi’ for simply asking Stevens if she could attempt one of her new assigned job tasks on her own, followed by a sustained campaign of aggression, personal boundary-crossing, and intimidation.”

The brief further details the sex discrimination experienced by Wilson-Brady stating that Stevens undercut Wilson-Brady’s authority with inmates creating a safety risk, screamed at her and invaded her personal space.

After another specific incident when Wilson-Brady claims Stevens screamed at her and acted confrontational as he invaded her personal space, Wilson-Brady attempted to speak with him privately.

“After Stevens yelled at Jennifer in front of the co-workers, Jennifer approached him in the ingredient room,” the trial brief states. “In the ingredient room, Jennifer asked Stevens if she could speak with him. Stevens asked the inmates who were in the ingredient room to leave the room and then he locked the door behind them.”

Wilson-Brady’s account of this interaction states that Stevens continued to yell at her in the locked ingredients room and compared her behavior to another female employee. In response to this incident, Wilson-Brady reached out to their mutual supervisor Michael Shepard the same day, but the complaint was dismissed as a “he said, she said” dispute.

After another instance of Stevens approaching Wilson-Brady in proximity on June 27, 2021, another employee, who witnessed the interaction, then told Wilson-Brady to stay close to him and not be alone with Stevens.

Wilson-Brady received a “meets expectations” performance evaluation July 21, 2021.

Then July 9, 2021, she made a verbal complaint to Dave Smith. Stevens was not on-site at the time of this complaint. Wilson-Brady told Smith she feared retaliation for filing a complaint but provided him with a written statement that included descriptions of the harassment.

Stevens was placed on paid administrative leave and an investigation began.

“On July 22, 2021, before the department's investigation into her complaint even finished, [Wilson-Brady] was summarily fired from the Department,” Wilson-Brady’s representation stated. “The Department’s stated reason for the firing was that [Wilson-Brady] did not meet the expectations of her job — just 21 days after her ‘meets expectations’ performance evaluation.”

In August 2021, Wilson-Brady then filed charges of employment discrimination against the Iowa Department of Corrections with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and they issued an Administrative Release (Right-to-sue) with respect to her charges of discrimination. She first filed her petition in August 2022 with the support of Higgins Law Firm.

“After nearly three years of litigation, Jennifer Wilson-Brady finally was able to hold the Defendant accountable in court,” attorney for Jennifer Wilson-Brady, Stuart Higgins said. “We are pleased jurors recognized what Jennifer Wilson-Brady knew all along, that she was fired for reporting sex-based harassment. All the credit goes to Jennifer for her tenacity and courage in pursuing this case.”

Wilson-Brady also expressed her gratitude for Higgins and his firm saying she could not thank him enough.

“It honestly feels surreal,” Wilson-Brady said. “The process of suing any governmental entity is a long and tedious one.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com