Jurors Say They Believe U of I Applicant Faced Hiring Bias

A federal jury believed the University of Iowa’s law school illegally denied a promotion to a conservative Republican because of her political views, former jurors told The Des Moines Register.

However, jurors told the newspaper they wanted to hold the school itself accountable rather than a former dean, but federal law does not recognize political discrimination by institutions.

Teresa Wagner sued the university claiming she was passed over for a full-time teaching position because of her advocacy and work with groups that oppose abortion and same-sex marriage rights. The case ended in a mistrial.

On Tuesday Wagner's attorneys filed a motion for a new trial in the case, the Register reported. The case will cost the state thousands of dollars to litigate and could cost the university hundreds of thousands of dollars should it lose or settle out of court, scholars following the lawsuit told the newspaper.

Court documents and testimony show a less-qualified candidate was hired for the job in 2007 and that the law school’s associate dean, Jon Carlson, had written an email in which he expressed concern that the faculty might be opposed to Wagner’s application “because they so despise her politics” and activism.

“I will say that everyone in that jury room believed that she had been discriminated against,” jury forewoman Carol Tracy told the Register.

In last month's trial, more than a dozen U of I professors and staff testified that Wagner failed to win the vote of the faculty because she performed miserably in a presentation. As a result, Wagner was not the faculty’s top choice for the job, according to testimony from the trial.

Jurors interviewed by the Register said that they didn’t accept the university’s explanation and that they believed Wagner, who still works part time in the U of I’s Law Writing Resource Center, had been discriminated against.