Court of Appeals Upholds Nearly $1M Judgment for F&T Client

F&T LAWYERS PREVAIL IN APPEAL BY STATE OF IOWA AND IOWA DNR. COURT OF APPEALS AFFIRMS NEARLY $1M JUDGMENT FOR F&T CLIENT IN DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION CASE.

In August 2015, F&T attorneys Brooke Timmer and Whitney Judkins went to trial in a disability discrimination case against the State of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  We wrote about the trial and our client, John Vetter, in January 2016. The total judgment in John’s case, before attorney’s fees and costs, was $688,422.32. The judge later awarded $246,118.64 in attorney’s fees, bringing the judgment to nearly $1 Million.

The State and the DNR appealed the judgment, asking an appellate court to throw out the jury’s verdict.  This morning, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the verdict and most of the district court’s decisions. In addition to the $934,540.96 in lost pay, emotional distress, and attorney’s fees it affirmed, the Court of Appeals also commanded the trial court to award reasonable litigation expenses from the trial, plus fees and expenses incurred in responding to the State’s unsuccessful appeal.