A former Lee County employee will have his day in court... again.
The Iowa Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case of Rick Carter vs. Lee County at 9:00 AM on Thurs., Dec. 4.
The three judges selected to hear the case are Chief Judge David Danilson, Judge Richard Doyle, and Judge Mary Tabor.
Rick Carter sued Lee County after the County Board of Supervisors fired him from his job as Maintenance Director in 2010.
He claimed, in his lawsuit, that he was fired for being a whistle-blower about mismanagement by the board, especially in its oversight of the expansion of the Lee County Jail.
The supervisors countered, saying Carter was fired for poor communication and management skills.
The case went to trial in South Lee County District Court in Feb. 2013.
After a week of testimony from several dozen witnesses, the jury of five men and three women agreed with Carter and awarded him $186,000 in lost wages and benefits.
Carter did not see that money, though, because Lee County appealed the ruling. District Court Judge Mary Ann Brown ruled on the appeal in July 2013, officially setting the verdict aside.
She said in a 17-page ruling that Carter failed to prove his case and that everything Carter reported was either known in the public or by those in county government.
Carter immediately appealed Brown's decision, prompting this hearing before the Iowa Court of Appeals.
The three-judge panel will not hear testimony. Instead, the attorneys for Carter and Lee County will have ten minutes, each, to make their cases along with an opportunity for rebuttal.
The panel will be able to ask questions. Those questions will help them decide whether to uphold Judge Brown's decision, reinstate the jury verdict or even order a new trial.
It could be several weeks before the ruling is released.
