Iowa State University will pay $124,000 to the executive assistant to the senior VP for operations and finance as part of a settlement agreement. (Photo by Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Iowa State University has agreed to pay a university employee $124,000 as part of a settlement agreement after she raised allegations of “harassment and retaliation,” according to settlement documents.
Caitlynn Miller, the executive assistant to the ISU senior vice president for operations and finance, settled with the university just months after Shawn Norman, the former senior vice president for operations and finance, entered a settlement agreement for the same amount.
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She will receive the first payment installment of $61,000 within 30 days of May 17, when the settlement was finalized, and will receive additional installments of $21,000 in 2025, 2026 and 2027 as long as she signs “Renewed Release and Covenant” documents each year. The settlement and future forms confirm that Miller will not sue the university and releases it from any actions, claims and liabilities that have come about from her employment.
The settlement agreement states that it is not an admission that any involved parties violated any laws or policies. With each new document she signs, Miller will affirm that she “has not experienced any discrimination, harassment, or retaliation arising out of or related to her employment with the University that she has not already disclosed to the University,” according to the release and covenant documents. She will not be able to sue based on claims of harassment or discrimination, no matter whether she has disclosed it to ISU or not.
Norman cut ties with the university Dec. 1, 2023 after coming into his role at the start of the year, and was paid $124,000 in full between Jan. 1 and Jan. 15. His settlement agreement also included a commitment to not sue the university.
Miller is still employed by ISU in the same position, serving as executive assistant to Interim Senior Vice President for Operations and Finance Heather Paris. The settlement agreement states that nothing in it would change the terms and conditions of her employment.
The university announced in April the start of a national search for the new VP, lead by a seven-person search committee aided by the Academic Search firm. The application deadline passed on May 28, and the university is aiming to have a new hire in place before the fall semester commences.
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