Legal Documents Revealed Concerning Britt Chief of Police Suing Mayor/City Over Sexual Harassment

Britt’s Police Chief Mark Anderson has filed a lawsuit against the city and Mayor Ryan Arndorfer alleging discrimination and harassment based on sex and sexual orientation, as well as retaliation. The suit alleges that Arndorfer sent sexually harassing messages in the form of images and videos along with texts beginning in 2017.

The suit also involves former City Councilperson Chad Luecht who resigned from the council in April. He is also accused of sending inappropriate and sexually graphic materials to Anderson electronically via a text group and Snapchat. The suit cites that the plaintiff, mayor, and Luecht are all homosexual. Anderson repeatedly told the pair that he was uncomfortable with the messages, although they refused to stop sending them.

Anderson spoke with then City Administrator Deb Sawyer and asked her to intervene. Sawyer spoke with Luecht, who stopped the messaging, but Arndorfer allegedly continued even after Sawyer had also spoken with him.  Sawyer’s employment was terminated. KIOW/KHAM News has reached out to her for clarification, but she has refused to comment.

Anderson filed complaints with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) along with the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) in December of 2021. The ICRC issued a right to sue letter on February 21st and Anderson followed up with a lawsuit on May 12th of this year.

KIOW/KHAM News was able to obtain a copy of the petition which documents in detail the sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation accusations. The court filing is attached below in a link.  Anderson has requested a trial by jury.