Iowa state court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former state agency director against Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds

DES MOINES, Iowa — A former director of a state agency who claimed that Gov. Kim Reynolds fired him because he objected to her using federal Medicaid money to pay a member of her staff has had his lawsuit dismissed by a judge in a state court. The lawsuit claimed that the former director was fired because he objected to the governor using the money.

In June 2021, exactly two years after Reynolds had sacked him from his position as director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, Jerry Foxhoven filed a lawsuit against Reynolds. Foxhoven asserted in his lawsuit that the reason he was fired was because he refused to participate in fraudulent activity related to Medicaid.

Reynolds claimed that she had done anything improper, but she refused to elaborate on the reasons why she had fired Foxhoven, other than to state that she had decided to move in a different route. She went on to say that the decision to fire Foxhoven was largely due to the deaths of patients at the Glenwood Resource Center, which is a facility in Iowa that treats people who have severe disabilities.

In August of 2019, Foxhoven submitted a claim for damages totaling $2 million to the State Appeal Board, an agency that reviews legal claims brought against the state. After the board turned down his claim, he proceeded to pursue the case.

Judge Sarah Crane came to the conclusion on Wednesday that because he was an appointed official, he served at the pleasure of the governor, and the governor had the ability to pick who would serve in executive leadership positions. She therefore dismissed his claim.

“Foxhoven’s claim that the governor does not have the discretion to terminate him in violation of public policy is unsuccessful, ” “she had written.

Crane stated that even Foxhoven’s claims that the governor had committed a financial impropriety did not outweigh her ability to terminate him. She claimed that even if the governor had committed a financial impropriety.

Crane, who was appointed by Reynolds to her position in 2018, stated that “the remedy to the public, in such situations of abuse, is at the polls.”

According to a statement made by Reynolds, “The court has verified what I’ve suspected all along, namely that there was never any substance to begin with on this matter.

Foxhoven’s dismissal got national news after it was reported by the Associated Press that it came a day after he sent all of the DHS employees with a remark from the rapper Tupac Shakur that he considered to be motivational and that he had seen in an email.

Foxhoven has stated that he admired the late rapper and considered himself a fan of his.

Foxhoven’s attorney Tom Duff stated that his client is dissatisfied with the judgment and that they are considering appealing it.