A former Ringgold County official facing charges for not letting a sheriff's deputy take a bomb into a park is accusing county leaders of discriminating against her because of her gender.
Kathryn Zimmerman resigned in 2023 after 13 years as conservation director for Ringgold County. In her lawsuit, filed last month, she accuses the four past and present county supervisors, the county auditor and several law enforcement officers of discrimination, retaliation, defamation and false arrest, describing a series of events she says forced her out of a job she loved.
Zimmerman specifically accuses county Supervisor Colby Holmes of striking her with his vehicle during a confrontation in December 2022. She reported him at the time to police, and was subsequently charged with making a false report. That case is still pending, and her lawsuit alleges Holmes provided "false information" about her police report that led to the charges.
That, on top of persistent disputes about her pay and officials putting up obstacles to her doing her job, are what forced Zimmerman to leave and, now, bring her lawsuit, she told the Register.
"This was a pervasive and targeted attempt to remove me from my position or force me to resign/quit due to the ongoing harassment and retaliation," Zimmerman, who now works for a nonprofit, said in an email.
The defendants do not yet have attorneys listed in court and have not filed a response. Ringgold County Attorney Clint Spurrier, in an email, said the county and its officials deny the allegations against them.
New board member incited harassment, lawsuit claims
In her complaint, Zimmerman says the county board began engaging in discrimination against her in 2021, the year Holmes joined the board, with Holmes disparaging her in public meetings by saying she'd be "better off as a janitor" and other remarks. In private, she alleges, Holmes told other supervisors and members of the county conservation board in July 2021 that "it isn’t right that [Zimmerman] is making more money than some other male employees."
That discrimination took a number of forms, she alleges, from constant harassment over and threats to audit her overtime hours to denying resources she needed for her job. She also accuses the board of denying funding for projects she'd worked on, which had already been approved, and then refusing to tell her or conservation board members why.
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Zimmerman says she filed several formal complaints, which Auditor Amanda Waske allegedly called “another attempt to create unnecessary drama,” but claims they resulted only in further harassment and retaliation.
Ok, but what was that about a bomb?
Zimmerman's complaint briefly describes a confrontation on Dec. 5, 2022, saying Holmes "intentionally physically assaulted (her) with his vehicle" and yelled at her to get out of the way. Court filings in other cases depict a scene that pitted Zimmerman against a sheriff's deputy and resulted in her criminal charges.
According to filings in her criminal case, a Ringgold County deputy had seized an improvised explosive device from a home and was directed by the state fire marshal to take it to a secluded area. The deputy attempted to take it to a park outside Mount Ayr, but Zimmerman, as conservation director, refused to unlock a gate and allow him in. Eventually Holmes arrived and Zimmerman allowed the deputy into the park.
Zimmerman's attorneys say in court filings that there was a public event taking place in the park, and the she was responsible for ensuring the park's safety. After the deputy entered the park, a fire marshal reportedly called Zimmerman and confirmed that the deputy had in fact taken the bomb to the wrong location.
It was during this encounter that Holmes allegedly struck Zimmerman with his car. She reported this to the deputy and says, in court filings, she was subsequently diagnosed with a leg injury.
Instead it was Zimmerman who was arrested, for interference with official acts and filing a false report. In the complaint, prosecutors allege Zimmerman first told the deputy that Holmes "tried to" hit her, but later claimed that he in fact had struck her. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent who prepared the complaint, and is now named as another defendant, wrote that witnesses said Zimmerman was not struck by the vehicle.
Court records show Zimmerman's trial was set for April but was postponed at the last minute and has not been rescheduled. Attorney Roxanne Conlin, who is representing her in her civil case, told the Register she believes the charges are "beyond ridiculous and part of Holmes' campaign against (Zimmerman)."
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
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