Long-Running Sex/Age Discrimination Suit Against Collection Agency Dropped

A district court judge in Iowa has dismissed a discrimination complaint filed on behalf of a former employee of I.C. System, Inc., the Mason City Globe-Gazette reports.

Debra Fatland worked at the large collection agency from October 2002 to January 2003. After she was terminated, she filed an age discrimination suit against I.C. System on January 23, 2003. The case, in various forms, has been going on ever since.

In June 2005, a judge ruled that Fatland did not have standing for an age discrimination claim, but she did have a case for sex discrimination. Two years later, a local government agency, the Mason City Human Rights Commission, filed an amended sex discrimination claim on behalf of Fatland against I.C. System. In January 2008, a judge awarded her $8,500.

I.C. System appealed the decision and that appeal is what was decided this week.

“We are very pleased with the decision that was finally reached on this case,” I.C. System Division Vice President Scott Bultje told the Globe-Gazette. “We strongly believe we handled this employee issue in a professional and respectful manner. There was zero evidence of any wrongdoing by any of our employees. We were very disappointed with the amount of time and expense we invested to preserve our good name.”