DES MOINES, Iowa — The former spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Health is suing Gov. Kim Reynolds and other members of her administration, saying her ouster from the department was based on her responding to media requests related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Polly Carver-Kimm was hired as the Iowa Department of Public Health Public Information Officer back in 2007.
Since then, her job title switched to the Communications Director, but she remained the same duties and job up until March 2020.
Carver-Kimm was responsible for all IDPH communications, including public information requests and COVID-19 related communications.
But by June 2020, she was no longer to fulfill open records requests, according to the lawsuit.
The petition reads that on July 15, 2020, Carver-Kimm was told that she could either resign or be terminated due to “restructuring.”
"Polly initially chose termination, but agreed to an involuntary resignation after being told that she would forfeit her accumulated vacation time if terminated," the lawsuit says.
Reynolds and her communications director, Pat Garrett, are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
"[Polly] was stripped of her duties and later terminated after she made repeated efforts to comply with Iowa’s Open Records law (Chapter 22) by producing documents to local and national media regarding the State of Iowa’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic," the petition concludes.
An attorney for Carver-Kimm released two complaints filed with the State Appeal Board, which ask for a total of $5 million in personal injury claims.