Polk County will pay $2.5 million to settle with the county’s former human resources chief Jim Nahas.
Polk County supervisors unanimously approved the settlement at their meeting Tuesday, Feb. 10, ending a years-long case in which Nahas alleged libel, extortion and wrongful termination, as well as violations of Iowa’s open meetings and records laws against both current and former members of the Polk County Board of Supervisors.
About $1.5 million will be paid by Polk County taxpayers through the general fund and another $981,000 will be covered by its insurer, Allied World Insurance Co. The payment must be made within 30 days, according to the agreement.
“Our office is thankful to have this matter behind us so that we can move forward together, centered on progress as servants to taxpayers,” Polk County Administrator Frank Marasco said in a statement Tuesday, Feb. 10. “We are committed to restoring good governance and transparency, and to do everything possible to be more effective, productive and responsive in our service to the public.”
Nahas filed a lawsuit in 2021, alleging he was forced to resign as part of a political vendetta. His lawsuit named as defendants former administrator John Norris, as well as supervisors Angela Connolly, Tom Hockensmith and former supervisors Robert Brownell and Steve Van Oort.
In September, a Dallas County jury awarded Nahas $4.26 million, finding that Norris, Connolly, and Hockensmith willfully libeled him when they fired him. Van Oort and Brownell were not held liable.
The county negotiated the settlement down to $2.5 million. Nahas’s termination letter has been rescinded as part of the settlement, according to the county’s statement.
In an emailed statement through his attorney, Nicholas Mauro of the Carney & Appleby Law Firm, Nahas said he was pleased to reach a resolution with Polk County.
“I am grateful to put this matter behind me and look forward to moving on with the next chapter of my life,” Nahas said.
Supervisor Angela Connolly told the Des Moines Register she felt the settlement could have been reached earlier, but Tuesday marked the end of the chapter. “And I’m happy about that,” she said.
Lawsuit alleged libel, wrongful termination
Nahas, who led Polk County’s human resources from 2014 to 2020, was fired after a prolonged investigation into Sarah Boese’s allegations of vulgar and threatening statements made by chair Matt McCoy during a meeting with Nahas and Marasco.
Boese, who was the county’s community relations director at the time and is now deputy county administrator, alleged she overheard McCoy make the comments, which she believed were directed at her.
Lawyers and investigators working for the county alleged Nahas had been evasive or dishonest in several interviews about the conversation. That allegation was in in a termination letter Norris signed and released to reporters, which also detailed the derogatory remarks McCoy allegedly made.
Nahas argued he’d been used as a pawn in a political power struggle between McCoy and other board members. He said they’d engineered his firing and the release of the letter to damage McCoy.
Reader’s Watchdog columnist Lee Rood contributed to this story.
Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com.
This story was updated to add more information.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Polk County settles libel lawsuit with former HR chief for $2.5M
Reporting by Virginia Barreda, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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