The Des Moines City Council approves a $2.4 million sexual harassment and discrimination settlement

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines City Council, without admitting wrongdoing, agreed to a $2.4 million settlement Monday night to resolve a sexual harassment and sexual discrimination lawsuit against the Des Moines Police Department.

In 2021, Tracy Rhoads, Jessica Bastian, Cynthia Donahue and Shannon Duffy — all employees of the Police Department — filed a lawsuit against the department, claiming they were overlooked for promotions, were repeatedly sexually harassed, and their complaints on these issues were not allowed and not taken seriously by superiors.

The women also accused then-Des Moines police union president Stew Barnes of sending them explicit photos of himself. During an investigation into the allegations, Barnes resigned and was allowed to keep his pension.

At Monday’s meeting, Bastian said filing the lawsuit was her only option.

“This is something that really caused a lot of emotions for all of us,” Bastian said. “The decision to stand up and fight for yourself is not an easy one. You face countless hurdles that you don’t think about until you hit them, and learning to overcome them while fighting for yourself takes an emotional toll.”

Donahue said the hope with this agreement is that there will be more accountability within the department and that things will change.

“We are very pleased that the chief has agreed to make some changes as a result of this lawsuit,” Donahue said. “Some of these changes will improve our police force. We will ensure our Office of Professional Standards investigators are better trained and better equipped to handle complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination.”

In addition to additional training for complaint investigators, the City will have all harassment, retaliation and complaint procedures reviewed by an independent third party; The police department’s internal Office of Professional Standards and the city’s human resources department will jointly handle complaint investigations. A standard set of interview questions will be used for all candidates being considered for promotion.