Iowa Supreme Court overturns $790K sexual harassment verdict against state Human Services

A bawdy office atmosphere among state social workers is not enough to support a nearly $800,000 jury verdict for sexual harassment, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled. The court's decision Friday reverses the verdict for Social Work Administrator Tracy White, who sued the Department of Human Services (now the Department of Health and Human Services) in 2019, alleging a pervasive pattern of harassment and sexual conduct among employees in the department's Des Moines service area. Those claims included lewd and graphic remarks, such as a (later fired) superior joking about...