DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A jury has awarded an Iowa Department of Human Services employee $790,000 in damages in her lawsuit accusing the department of fostering sexual harassment. The Des Moines Register reports that the jury issued the award Thursday at the conclusion of trial in the lawsuit brought in 2019 by Tracy White. White started working at the department in 2000 and has been a social work administrator and senior manager since 2008. She said in her lawsuit that she had suffered from anxiety, depression and physical ailments brought on by a workplace rife with sexual references and lewd, inappropriate behavior. Examples given at trial included sexually-charged comments by her boss and other men and promotion decisions based on attractiveness of employees.
