Iowa Judicial Branch Building
DES MOINES, Iowa – The case of a troubled Iowa cop’s firing as he grappled with PTSD gave the state Supreme Court the chance to decide whether jurors should be allowed to consider whether firing parties unknowingly stereotype the employees they terminate.
They should not, the court ruled Friday in Matthew Hunter’s lawsuit against the City of Des Moines. Hunter’s best friend and former partner died by suicide, and the aftermath sent him on a path that led to an ugly scene at a friend’s wedding in which he threatened a fellow cop.
As his PTSD diagnosis came to light, Des Moines chose to fire him – partly because of his actions that night and partly because it found him no longer fit for duty. He sued and won a $2.6 million verdict that has now been struck, as the Supreme Court found the “stereotype” jury instruction improper and ordered a new trial.
The court said the instruction was novel and “not previously approved by us or in any other reported decision.” It would redefine disability discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, Justice Edward Mansfield wrote.
It authorized the jury to find decisionmakers treated Hunter differently than if he had not had a disability – even if they were “unaware of bias” in their motives.
“Hunter argues that it is ‘vital that juries be educated on the existence of stereotypes,’” Mansfield wrote. “But this instruction did the opposite. It was a confusing and somewhat contradictory mix-and-match of different concepts.”
Hunter had been with the Des Moines Police Department for 20 years when his friend Joseph Morgan took his own life in 2020. Hunter rushed to the scene and saw Morgan’s body, including the gunshot wound to his chest.
Though the department made available a psychologist for counseling, Hunter opted for a private practitioner who noted he was showing symptoms of acute stress disorder. A diagnosis of PTSD requires symptoms at least 30 days after the triggering incident, and Hunter did not mention the acute stress disorder when talking with the staff psychologist who cleared him for full duty.
Hunter continued to have difficulties and broke down emotionally at dinner at a friend’s house. In 2021, he responded to the scene of another suicide and later visited Morgan’s grave.
Whiskey at a relative’s wedding in June 2021 fueled an outburst. When he tried to drive home, his wife stopped the car and tried to take the keys, but a sergeant of the Indianola Police Department witnessed the scene and confronted Hunter.
From there, Hunter hurled expletives and was arrested. Hunter told the cop he would use his position as a Des Moines sergeant to ruin his career, then told the officer who drove him to Marion County jail that he would kill “you and your family.”
“Yet in other moments, Hunter was crying and despondent,” Manheim wrote. “Hunter consented to a breathalyzer test which returned a blood alcohol concentration of .21%.”
The only charge ended up being public intoxication, but he was placed on administrative leave during an investigation. Hunter had no memory of what he had said and apologized at every chance, but his termination was recommended on June 8, 2021.
The next day, Hunter admitted to struggling with Morgan’s death. On June 12, he had to apologize for homophobic statements he’d said while intoxicated. Eleven days later, he disclosed to a committee that he recently learned he’d been experiencing symptoms of PTSD, but he had not yet been diagnosed.
The committee recommended termination, leading to a June 28 pre-disciplinary meeting where he pleaded for more time and a second chance. His PTSD diagnosis was now official, but he was fired the next day.
When his disability-discrimination case went to trial, the stereotype instruction said unlawful discrimination “sometimes happens without the decisionmaker having planned, thought out, or even acknowledged to himself or herself that it is taking place.”
Des Moines objected to it. “So suggesting the jury that the decisionmakers need not have considered Matt Hunter’s disability and they could be held liable for unintentionally firing him because of his disability, we think, is inconsistent with the motivating factor instruction and prejudicial to the City,” it said.
The trial judge overruled the objection, leading to the $2.6 million verdict. But both the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court have since found it improper and ordered a new trial.
Hunter needed to show he was discharged because of his disability and not because of the misconduct it caused and that he was still qualified to perform the essential functions of his position, the Supreme Court said.
“Merely believing that someone with PTSD is unfit to be a cop would not be illegal unless all the elements of a disability-discrimination claim were proven,” Mansfield wrote.
