Has the Iowa Civil Rights Commission failed you? Share your story.

by Sondra Wilson. 1/13/2025. 

In 2022, after have a terrible experience involving discrimination in Ames, Iowa, I did what other minorities in Iowa are directed to do: filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission (“ICRC”). For those of you who have never been in a situation to have to do this, ICRC responds to complaints by sending a questionnaire to either party in order to determine whether or not a “reasonable possibility for a probable cause finding” (of discrimination) exists. If based on the preliminary review it is determined further investigation is not warranted, the complaint is screened-out and administratively closed. This is described on ICRC’s website, under their Outline of Complaint Process web page.

Within my appeal I provided ICRC with numerous pieces of irrefutable evidence that the respondents submitted multiple lies in response to the questionnaire, however ICRC administratively closed my case regardless, choosing not to investigate. 

I filed a complaint against ICRC with the Office of the Ombudsman

On November 11, 2022 I filed this complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman, requesting them to review ICRC’s findings. The Ombudsman reviewed whether or not the Commission adhered to proper administrative procedure, but not whether or not their determinations were meritorious. The following two segments from within the Ombudsman’s findings indicate that ICRC’s website fraudulently misrepresents what is to be expected from them:

  • “[N]othing in the administrative rule describes a process by which the Iowa Civil Rights Commission must detail or explain the reason for denying a reopening. All that is required under rule 161-3.16(3) is a notice to the parties that the denial was made.”

 

  • “Estabrook v Iowa Civil Rights Commission 283 N.W.2d 306 (Iowa 1979). The Court viewed the [ICRC]’s process as a mere administrative remedy, with the complainant having the option of filing a civil claim of discrimination in state or federal court once that administrative process is exhausted. Id. At 310. The Court determined that the legislature did not intend the [ICRC] to process every complaint even if it generated a prima facie case for discrimination. This gives the Iowa Civil Rights Commission broad authority to determine which cases to process, even for cases that present a prima facie showing of discrimination.”

Fraudulent misrepresentation by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission

If ICRC is under no obligation to screen in a case even if there is probable cause, they should state that on their website. What they currently have written misleads taxpayers and victims of discrimination who come to them for help, amounting to fraudulent misrepresentation by ICRC. Instead of misleading taxpayers and victims, ICRC ought write what one might reasonably expect: that they are under “no obligation to screen in a case, even when prima facie evidence of discrimination exists” and that they only screen in some cases.

ICRC appears to be failing Iowans

I began to look online to see if other Iowans were having similar experiences: is the ICRC doing its job? Here are some initial filings which indicated I was not alone:

Then, on January 13, 2025 (same day this article was written), a woman contacted me with the following message:

After discussing each others’ experiences with one another, she and I decided to put a call out publicly across Iowa to find more Iowans who report having a negative experience with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission: where evidence was shown to them that there was at least a “reasonable possibility of probable cause” discrimination had in fact occurred, but regardless they chose not to investigate. As a result, we were denied numerous remedies that are specified within Iowa Code § 216.15(9)(a) of the the Iowa Civil Rights Act. 

Disclaimer

Please note, before reading further, that as the author of this article, I, Sondra Wilson, am not an attorney. Rather, I am a Citizen of the State of Iowa who is deeply concerned that victims of discrimination in Iowa are not finding the level of support that may need from the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. Therefore, I am using the First Amendment to alert fellow Citizens with regard to what appears to be going on, and am performing grassroots organization with other Citizens who believe they may have been adversely impacted in similar manners that I and the woman who contacted me this morning reports having. As you may have seen elsewhere on this website, I intend to run for Iowa Governor in 2026, as I am largely running on what I see as much needed justice reforms.

That said, as a non-attorney, I am a pre-law student at Iowa State University who has studied law extensively for more than a decade. I am also a transsexual woman from Nevada, Iowa who has experienced gross acts of discrimination on numerous occasions (e.g. harassment, sexual harassment, severe physical violence, verbal abuse from strangers, frequent defamation from politicians and news media personalities, suspicious firing, and other experiences). In 2011, after learning about color of law crimes and how they might be able to protect me against the types of abuses I’d experienced in Ames, Iowa in 2006 and 2009, I dedicated several years toward building a legal self-help website (www.ReUniteTheStates.org) not only for my own personal use, but also to help others who may be struggling to find the level of support they may need. As someone who could never afford an attorney or find strong pro bono help, learning the law and working to make justice more accessible for the average Citizen is something I have become deeply passionate about. I am currently fundraising so that I can train a team to help finish developing www.ReUniteTheStates.org, with plans to leave it publicly available online beyond my years. 

A Class Action Lawsuit may be forming: Please Contact Us w/ Your Story

In December 2023, after working to untangle the extremely-complex Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure and turn them into step-by-step directions I could make sense of, I filed a lawsuit against the businesses whom I initially filed a complaint against with the ICRC. Then, in February 2024, I filed a four-part suit against the State of Iowa. Although part three of my suit had to do with fraudulent misrepresentation by the ICRC, alleging that the State of Iowa aids and abets businesses who perform discriminatory acts, in hindsight it appears that such a suit ought to be filed against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission instead of against the state. The reason I suspect this is that in 2023 when the ACLU of Iowa filed Vasquez v. Department of Human Services, their suit was directed against the agency and not the state. 

So, this brings us to this morning, when the woman who wrote me about having a similar experience, contacted me. After speaking on the phone, we decided to put a public call across the State of Iowa. If you filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and strongly believe that you showed them enough evidence that there was a “reasonable possibility of probable cause”, yet they chose not to investigate, please email us at [email protected] with your story. She and I are currently forming a coalition to bring this to the public’s attention, find support, and explore our options. Perhaps we will find a lawyer with a strong sense of justice who will step forward and help us with this case – maybe someone who knows the story of civil rights hero Alexander Clark, who still believes that Iowa can be a leader when it comes to anti-discrimination and civil rights. We know this issue is bigger than ourselves, and while some State of Iowa officials are poised to backslide on its commitment to equality, we as Citizens – as rightful owners and heirs of Iowa’s government (they are our employees), are standing up to remind fellow Iowans of who we are and what our role in this fight needs to be.

Request for Journalists and Financial Support

As of now, I am a fulltime college student who is completely overwhelmed with having to prepare legal filings for the lawsuit I’m currently in. The woman mentioned above, who had a similar experience as me, is also inundated with work with regard to her case. This is essentially fulltime, unpaid work outside our regular lives and jobs, fighting not only for justice for ourselves, but also fighting a larger fight that involves justice for other minorities who aren’t getting the support they need. We are currently requesting help from journalists or aspiring journalists – or – assuming there will be little news coverage – people who are not journalists who have a strong sense of justice and excellent writing skills. Please, we need your help to help cover our stories and get the word out about our efforts. We need more people to come forward.

If you would like to help support us as we work our cases and work on organizing this larger effort, please consider making a campaign contribution to Wild Willpower PAC. Please note that this is a separate fund from my campaign for Iowa Governor, and will not be used to support my campaign.

Contact: [email protected]