Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday defended a state review of how an Iowa State Patrol captain handled a sexual harassment complaint against a trooper.
The Associated Press reported this week a state employee accused Captain Mark Logsdon in emails of failing to follow up on her harassment complaint against Trooper Wade Karp.
When the employee took her complaint to other officials in the Department of Public Safety, Karp was put on paid administrative leave. He remained on paid leave for 10 months and was fired in early July, days after an AP reporter started asking questions about him.
Reynolds said the Department of Administrative Services and the Department of Public Safety reviewed the situation.
“They have a process that they go through. I think all of the details they could release have been released,” Reynolds said. “But there are some matters they are not able to release. Action was taken. He [Trooper Karp] went through the review process and was ultimately terminated.”
Asked if she thought Captain Logsdon handled the complaint appropriately, Reynolds said she can’t say because of “laws and personnel information.”
“I can’t go into details,” Reynolds said. “It was reviewed by the Department of Administrative Services.”
Logsdon oversees security for the governor and state Capitol.
This is the latest in a series of sexual harassment cases in Iowa government.
Reynolds said she wants employees to know they have a safe environment to work in.
“There’s a process in place, and we want them to know what that process is,” Reynolds said. “They’ll be heard and action will be taken, and that’s what happened.”
Reynolds has talked about a “zero tolerance” policy for sexual harassment. She previously said her immediate firing of her friend and former Iowa Finance Authority Director Dave Jamison earlier this year displayed that policy.
On Wednesday, Reynolds also said she agrees with several Democratic female senators that Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, should have resigned from the legislature after sexual harassment allegations forced him to drop out of the governor’s race.
“I think they have an obligation to act,” Reynolds said.
Boulton said Monday he does not intend to resign.
