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Iowa Court of Appeals Reviews Lee County Firing

The Iowa Court of Appeals will weigh in on a "whistleblower" case out of Lee County in December.

The Lee County Board of Supervisors fired Rick Carter in late 2010. Carter had been the county's maintenance director for more than three years before his firing.
 

The supervisors said at the time that he was fired for communication problems and failures to pay bills and document project costs.

Carter countered in a lawsuit filed several months later that he was fired for being a whistleblower.
He said he told members of the board, law enforcement officers and other elected leaders about rule violations, mismanagement and an abuse of funds.

A jury agreed with Carter following a week-long trial in early 2013. He was awarded nearly $200,000 for lost wages, attorney fees and interest.

That money never arrived though because  District Court Judge Mary Ann Brown set aside the verdict.  She ruled that Carter failed to prove his case and that the case should not have been given to the jury.

The Court of Appeals will hear the case on Thurs., Dec. 4.  The court could uphold Brown's decision, reinstate the jury verdict or order a new trial.

The case was going to go to the Iowa Supreme Court, but the justices passed it along.

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.