A former Iowa City police officer is suing the city alleging discrimination related to his race and disability. (Stock photo by Oliver Helbig/Getty Images)
A former Iowa City police officer is suing the city, alleging racial discrimination related to excessive-force complaints.
Emilio M. Puente is seeking unspecified damages for alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990.
According to the lawsuit, the Iowa City Police Department hired Puente in April 2019. After he was allegedly forced to resign in early 2022, he filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, which in April 2024 provided him with the right-to-sue letter that cleared the way for his lawsuit.
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Puente alleges that during his three years with the police department, he received commendations for bravery and job performance, but also experienced discrimination due to his race, skin color and disability.
He alleges that in November 2019, a fellow officer circulated an email mocking Puente for his Latino ethnicity and that his superiors took no action when he complained about the situation. In contrast, he claims, the department responded to a white84-2113822 officer being chided about his status while on military leave by cautioning the staff that such behavior would not be tolerated.
In July 2020, Puente was disciplined after he and a fellow officer, driving separate police cars, pursued a suspect through a grassy area — an act that generated a complaint to the department. The lawsuit alleges that although Puente was following the other officer who had initiated the chase, only Puente was disciplined.
The lawsuit also claims that in November 2021, Puente was involved in a physical altercation with a suspect and used force to subdue the individual. Nine days after that arrest, Puente was injured while arresting a subject who “violently kicked” him in the knee, leading to a disability claim of chronic nerve damage.
Days later, Puente alleges, he was informed of an internal affairs investigation into the arrest in which he had used force. According to the lawsuit, Puente was summoned to a meeting in February 2022 and informed that the chief of police intended to fire him within the next two hours, and that he would never again work in law enforcement, unless he opted to “voluntarily” resign.
Puente alleges he opted to resign, which resulted in the immediate termination of his disability pay. After a May 2022 hearing before the Iowa City Civil Service Commission, the department informed the press that Puente had committed misconduct in violating use-of-force policies, the lawsuit claims.
As further evidence of unequal treatment, the lawsuit states that in June 2022, videos of a different white Iowa City officer surfaced on social media. In one of those videos, the officer is allegedly seen grabbing a female suspect whose hands are cuffed behind her back and forcefully shoving her into the backseat of a police car. At that point, the lawsuit alleges, the video shows the officer striking the handcuffed woman “more than seven times with his closed fist.”
The officer involved in that incident, the lawsuit claims, was never disciplined. “In fact, the department publicly defended that officer against criticism,” the lawsuit states.
Another video that has circulated on social media allegedly shows the same white officer following a man walking into a retail store, demanding that the man stop. After the man continued to walk away, the lawsuit states, “he was beaten and apprehended” by the officer, despite the fact that he “posed no threat.” Again, the city allegedly failed to discipline that officer.
Since his forced resignation, Puente alleges, he has had to sell his home and car and has had trouble finding another job due to his disability and the circumstances surrounding his resignation. He alleges “anti-police activists” have followed him to his new jobs and pressured his employers to fire him.
The city has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. The city attorney declined to comment on the case Tuesday.
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