DAVENPORT, Iowa — A pair of former City of Davenport employees have filed suit against the City, alleging that they violated state law by negligently releasing personal information via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
According to court documents, former City employees Tiffany Thorndike and Samantha Torres have filed suit against the City, former Assistant City Attorney Brian Heyer and current Deputy City Clerk Brian Krup.
The lawsuit alleges that in August of 2023, City officials requested Thorndike and Torres provide the City with summaries of reported harassment, discrimination and a hostile work environment and requests for separation agreements.
Thorndike and Torres compiled and provided the City with reports of the harassment, which contained personal physical and mental health information. Using these reports, the City drafted settlement agreements, which were signed on Sept. 8, 2023.
According to court documents, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants violated state law by negligently releasing the personal information through FOIA requests, which the City first started receiving in November. The lawsuit claims the two women were told their demand letters would be kept confidential under Iowa law and not disclosed to the public.
The lawsuit states that Heyer processed the FOIA requests, while Krup managed the City's FOIA system and was tasked with ensuring Heyer correctly reviewed and prepared materials for FOIA requests. In preparing the FOIA requests, the lawsuit says that Heyer "screwed up" and negligently forwarded the entire contents of Thorndike and Torres' personal information to multiple private individuals, which eventually led to the information being widely circulated to the public.
Thorndike and Torres are seeking damages and a jury trial.
News 8 has reached out to the City of Davenport and awaits comment on this matter.
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