DES MOINES — A jury has awarded $2.2 million to a former Iowa Senate Republican caucus aide who sued the state and others for sexual harassment.
Jurors handed down the award Tuesday to Kirsten Anderson, who was fired in 2012 as the caucus communications director hours after handing in a memo detailing rampant sexual harassment in the caucus office. The 39-year-old Anderson testified at trial that sex, race and sexual orientation were regular topics of conversations and jokes in the office.
Republican officials had denied she was harassed and argued she was fired because of poor job performance. But several other current and former staffers corroborated her claims of a hostile work environment.