Ousted Iowa human services director appeals wrongful termination case to Supreme Court

Jerry Foxhoven, the former Department of Human Services director ousted from his job in 2019, has filed an appeal for the Iowa Supreme Court to reconsider his wrongful termination suit against Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The notice of appeal was filed Tuesday morning in Polk County District Court.

Earlier this month, a Polk County District Court judge sided with the state and dismissed all three counts in the suit filed by Foxhoven, who was fired after just two years as the state agency's administrator.

Reynolds praised the ruling in a statement last month, saying that the confirmed "what I’ve known all along — that this case was baseless from the start."

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Des Moines lawyer Thomas Duff, who represented Foxhoven in the case, argued the district court never commented on the factual merits of the lawsuit itself.

"The dismissal was purely on legal grounds; that the governor and the state of Iowa were immune from suit and free from all accountability," Duff wrote in an email to the Des Moines Register. "We believe this is wrong and that all Iowans, particularly this governor, should be held to account for their actions."

No evidence of wrongful termination, writes district court judge

In the suit, Foxhoven said he was wrongfully terminated "because he refused to engage in illegal activity."

He claimed he was fired over a dispute with Reynolds on the pay of a former Department of Human Services employee who transferred to the governor's office to serve as an adviser of health care issues.

The department was asked to continue to pay a portion of the staffer's salary, but according to the suit, Foxhoven raised concerns that the use of federal Medicaid money to pay her salary would constitute Medicaid fraud.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office represented Reynolds in the case.

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In her ruling, District Court Judge Sarah Crane wrote she found no evidence of wrongful termination. In addition, she wrote that as an official at one of the highest positions in state government, Foxhoven served at the governor's discretion.

"The governor is not compelled to hire or retain any particular individual for the position of director of DHS," the judge wrote in the ruling. "Foxhoven was not appointed to a term of years. To the contrary, the director of DHS serves 'at the pleasure' of the governor."

Crane was appointed by Reynolds as a district court judge in 2018.

Foxhoven had also filed a wrongful termination claim with the Iowa Appeal Board, demanding $2 million from the state and the governor. The board declined to fulfill the demand.

Why was Jerry Foxhoven fired?

Reynolds and her staff initially gave little reason for the administrator's dismissal in June 2019, merely stating at the time that the governor "wanted to go in a new direction at the Department of Human Services."

Reynolds later said the firing was in part related to an increase in patient deaths at a state-run institution for people with severe disabilities.

The ouster garnered national attention, fueled by speculation that Foxhoven's termination was somehow related to his die-hard fandom of Tupac Shakur.

The Associated Press had found he was forced to resign just one day after he sent an email to thousands of agency employees that included an inspirational quote from the late rapper.

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The governor denied Foxhoven's taste in music was a factor in his termination.

Duff, Foxhoven's lawyer, is also representing Polly Carver-Kimm, a former spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Health who is suing the governor and the state for wrongful termination.

Carver-Kimm was fired in July 2020 for being too open with reporters, she claims in her suit.

Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Jerry Foxhoven submits appeal in lawsuit against Reynolds, the state