Matthew Lewis Hunter v. City of Des Moines, Iowa; and Des Moines Police Bargaining Unit, Jane Doe No. 1, John Doe No. 2, John Doe No. 3, John Doe No. 4, and John Doe No. 5

Former Des Moines Police Department sergeant Matthew Hunter sued the City of Des Moines for disability discrimination and failure to accommodate under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. A jury awarded $2,615,231.35 in damages, and the district court denied the City’s post-trial motions. The court of appeals reversed the denial of the City’s post-trial motion, holding that an erroneous jury instruction on stereotypes tainted the jury’s verdict with respect to the disability discrimination claim and that the failure to accommodate claim failed as a matter of law. It remanded for retrial on Mr. Hunter’s disability discrimination claim and for dismissal of his failure-to-accommodate claim. Both the City and Mr. Hunter filed applications for further review. The City contends the court of appeals erred when it didn’t hold as a matter of law Mr. Hunter was not qualified to serve as a police officer with or without an accommodation. Mr. Hunter argues the court of appeals erred because (1) the evidence supported the jury’s finding that the City failed to accommodate him and (2) the trial court’s jury instruction regarding stereotypes was proper.

Holding: The parties seek further review of a court of appeals decision that reversed a judgment in favor of the plaintiff on disability-discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claims and remanded for a new trial on the disability-discrimination claim. Decision of Court of Appeals Affirmed; District Court Judgment Reversed and Case Remanded.