Jury Awards Ex-Employee at Upper Iowa U. $1.1-Million in Disabilities Case

A civil jury has awarded more than $1.1-million in back pay and punitive damages to a former assistant registrar at Upper Iowa University who said the institution had opted to fire her rather than accommodate her disabilities, reported The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, a local newspaper. Lynne Seabrooke, who sued the university in federal court last year, said Upper Iowa violated the Americans With Disabilities Act when it fired her, in 2009. Ms. Seabrooke said she had a diagnosis of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety at the time. Lawyers for Upper Iowa said it could not accommodate her because she never asked it to do so. She was terminated, university officials said, because she was verbally abusive to colleagues. A university lawyer said Upper Iowa would appeal the verdict.