HerringLaw: Civil Rights & Discrimination Law in Iowa

Three Tips: Part One

Faced with the dreaded blank page, I thought about what would make my posting and the reading pleasure of the reader easier. One idea is to have a focused discussion of Three Tips that can prove helpful to others.

So, for Part One: Three Tips for Employees in Iowa

1. Unless you have a contract of employment [oral or written or implied, subject to many circumstances special to a situation], a public policy recognized in Iowa or a statutory protection, you are an employee "at will" and either or both you and your employer can call a halt to your employment relationship for no reason at all. As is true in most situations in the law, "the Devil is in the details". A good general discussion of employment law, including this topic, is at Workplace Fairness

2. One powerful protection for employees in Iowa is the Wage Payment Collection Act, Chapter 91A of the Code. Basically, the law was passed and has been interpreted in a favorable way for employees to facilitate their being able to collect the wages due them when they leave their employment. Of course, the Devil is around there too, but the statute is fairly clear in its requirements. The best way to deal with disputes over who owes what, how much and when is to deal directly with your [former] employer, since lawsuits are unpleasant and perhaps even unnecessary.

3. Another protection for employees, subject to many limitations and exceptions, is the Drug Testing statute, Section 730.5 of the Iowa Code. A fairly good discussion from the perspective of the Workforce Development department can be found at Drug Testing Issues

Well, there are your Three Tips. I'll expand upon them in future blogging.

Using your iPod in an Office

At a list I am on, the MacLaw listserve for the community of Macintosh-using lawyers, we are discussing the use of an iPod as a voice recorder. There are various types of microphones made to attach to an iPod to pick up sounds, which then are saved on the iPod drive and later can be transferred easily to iTunes and your computer. I have an iTalk [there are other such products] and used it a year or so ago in a case. I was interviewing witnesses, attached the iTalk to my iPod and put it on the table as we talked. I took some notes, but as I drove back to my office, I was able to play back our discussions in the car and then import them to iTunes and have them available any time I wished.

Iowa Legislature Passes Sexual Orientation Law

Iowa's civil rights laws are found in Chapter 216 of the Iowa Code and recently were expanded to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Under this new law, it will be illegal to discriminate against a person based on his/her sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, public accommodation, credit, housing and education.

That is all well and good, and it is an important statement to Iowa's residents, businesses and those who might consider moving here. But, it is going to be an empty statement if the enforcement body, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, is not provided additional resources to handle the caseload it has, and that which it will have. In some cases, the complaints can and should be handled by the local commissions [many if not most of whom have their own sexual orientation provision already]. But many parts of Iowa are only protected by the enforcement powers of the ICRC and yet, the Commission is already having some difficulties in efficiently and effectively handling its case load. It is possible that there will not be all that many complaints filed, but funding adequate enforcement powers or changing the process of enforcement should be contemplated.