Should the State of Iowa allow businesses to retaliate against discrimination victims who come forward?

by Sondra Wilson. 12/27/2024.

I have done everything I can to not have to write this article, however at this point I feel desperate, trapped, and without any other choice. I am in urgent need of finding about 5 case rulings in order to get this unjust ruling that Judge Currie issued on October 4 reversed or I am going to be forced to pay people who:

  • Exploited me for several months of unpaid labor I would not have performed had I known Reliable Street Inc was going to:
    1. Discriminate against me,
    2. Violate our agreements, and
    3. Harm my reputation throughout much of the local Ames, Iowa arts scene.
  • Entered numerous extremely damaging false testimonies about me into the public record, alongside a falsified document, in retaliation for me filing a discrimination complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission against Lockwood Café and non-profit Reliable Street Inc. Had I not filed a civil action against the defendants, I have strong reason to believe that the defendants intended to use the false testimonies in the future in order to attack my political endeavors.

Why this article is being made public

After suffering recurring suicidal thoughts about the thought of having money taken out of my account to pay my abusers – and about living in a state that seems irreparably corrupt – I decided to write this article ASAP because the deadline for the next filing is January 6, 2025. This article has four purposes:

  1. I humbly request help from members of the public to find about 5 case rulings that could be used to reverse Judge Currie’s ruling. I’ve contacted more than 50 attorneys across the state, and the least expensive quote I received was $5000 up front, $275/hr. Furthermore, legal aid organizations, such as Legal Aid of Story County or Iowa Legal Aid, are not able to assist with “fee-generating cases”. Progressive organizations involved with broad advocacy for LGBT+, such as Ames Pride or OneIowa, have been of no help, nor has the ACLU of Iowa, whom I received a form letter from saying they cannot help at this time. I could go on about this topic and how frustrated I am by the lack of legal support and advocacy for distressed minorities here in Iowa, suffice it to say that self-representation and writing an article to expose what’s going on appeared to be my only option. 
  2. There is a possibility that the owners of Lockwood Café either do not know what the other defendants, who acted maliciously, are aware of, or they are under duress and being coerced to go along with the extremely harmful and manipulative narrative the defendants’ shared attorney is representing (which seems to me to be in more in the interests of the other defendants). Due to what transpired within the settlement conferences, I have strong reason to believe this might be the case, however I am under duress myself, as I was instructed by the court not to talk about what happened within the settlement conferences. Please note that I think that is utter bullshit, and it seems to me that the only reason such a policy exists is to hush certain parties, and to enable other parties to say whatever they want without the public knowing about it. After carefully viewing the evidence, posted below, and witnessing what the other defendants most certainly know and likely have been hiding from the owners of Lockwood, I would strongly urge Lockwood Café to file a cross-claim against the other defendants, and to become co-plaintiffs with me in this lawsuit. After viewing the evidence below, if Lockwood does not file a cross-claim, I will have no other choice but to remove the benefit of the doubt I’ve been giving them, and assume they are in on it, and just as guilty as the rest of them. 
    • To the owners of Lockwood Café: if you are in fact under duress, I strongly suggest filing a cross-claim against the defendants who are acting maliciously, and using the money to move your business across town. I understand that advising you to do this would likely be a conflict of interest for your attorney, which is why I’m putting this out there publicly, in hopes that you receive this message and get away from these abusive people. Note that it is not too late to do so, despite what your attorney might be telling you.
  3. To expose what the defendants have done and are concealing in order to alert the Ames arts community about what has been going on in hopes to:
    • Urge the President of Reliable Street, Lyndsay Nissen, to step down; a nonprofit designed to support local artists, who conveys itself as LGBT+ friendly, should not have a community leader performing predatory acts against a transgender woman (or anyone). 
    • Convince the Ames arts community to consider that we may need a new nonprofit (or other organization) that supports local artists.
  4. To expose the State of Iowa’s response to this situation thus far; I am likely not the only minority who has filed a discrimination complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission only to find that the state will bend over backwards to aid and abet businesses who discriminate. For example: 
    • Apparently businesses can simply lied to the Commission to convince them not to investigate. Even if you show them hard evidence that the respondents lied, the Commission will still do nothing.
    • I attempted to file a complaint with the Ames Police to report that Nissen and defendant Charlie Esker, a friend of the other defendants and frequently-showcased artist at Reliable Street, knowingly sent false testimonies to the Commission, in violation of Iowa Code §714.8, “any person who makes any entry in… any public records… knowing the same to be false, is guilty of fraud.” However, Ames Police, whom I have experienced severe discrimination from in the past, would not allow me to file a complaint, informing me that the falsified document and false testimonies were sent to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and therefore I should contact the Des Moines Police to file a complaint. Des Moines PD, however, informed me that even if it were in their jurisdiction, I should file it with the Ames Police and that they would transfer it to the Des Police. “They know this,” I was told by a Des Moines police officer. After informing Officer Schieffer about this, he emailed me back, informing me that the Story County Attorney’s Office advised that they wouldn’t prosecute even if it were in their jurisdiction. I was denied “equal protection of the laws”; you can read read the email thread here.

This Article, Court Documents, and Evidence are being Broadcast for First Amendment Purposes

From the time this article was written, I have about one week to file a motion to reconsider; that leaves very little time to find case rulings relevant to my case. The good news is that the rulings should exist because the ruling that came down is wholly unjust. I plan to post this article on Reddit and other places online in hopes people will help me find relevant case law. I don’t have time to go through all the documents and redact names; I did that in the previous article I wrote about this case, which I never had time to finish because it is extremely time consuming to redact every piece of evidence. The purpose of this article is to request assistance from members of the public in researching about 5 case rulings to get Judge Currie’s ruling reversed. Please help, if able. 

Why This Case is of Public Importance

If businesses can simply lie to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in order to convince them not to investigate, then minorities are not being protected from discrimination in Iowa. That is why I’m broadcasting this for First Amendment purposes; to alert the public. Even though the Iowa Civil Rights Commission’s website says they “will” investigate a case “if there is a reasonable possibility of probable cause [of discrimination]”, in practice the commission is not doing this. I showed them hard evidence the respondents lies to the commission, however still the commission chose not to investigate. Here are two related articles which show that this is certainly not an isolated case:

article in making. please check back

Following approximately six months of volunteering at Reliable Street in accordance with three separate agreements, according to documents submitted by President of Reliable Street Inc, Lyndsay Nissen, and co-owner of Lockwood Café, Sharon Stewart, Lockwood employee Willa Colville falsely accused me of “stalking and harassing” her, and her friend and co-worker Denise Martinez accused me of “saying racist and anti-LGBT+ comments”. Colville and Martinez’s false, defamatory statements appear to have been used alongside a falsified document and out-of-context statements that were screenshotted from various threads I was in in order to convince Nissen and Stewart that I was performing these predatory behaviors. Due to the fact that none of the defendants have ever been upfront with me about any of this, it is difficult to determine to what extent the two employees defamed me prior to me being banned from the property, or whether the documents were created after I filed a discrimination complaint against the two businesses with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. It is difficult to determine because instead of being up front with me and telling me what I was accused of, Nissen and Stewart presumed I was guilty and banned me from the property, telling me only that I was accused of “violating a woman’s space”. Although Nissen and Stewart alleged to the Commission that the complaints of racism and anti-LGBT+ comments were made by Martinez prior to me being banned from the property, based on the evidence before me (which I will share below), it appears that:

  1. There was never any legitimate reason for Nissen and Stewart to bar me from the property other than deciding they no longer wanted me around,
  2. That the aforementioned individuals, along with their friend and frequently-showcased artist at Reliable street, Charlie Esker, conspired to retaliate against me for filing the discrimination complaint via submitting the falsified document and phony testimonies into the public record (via their responses to the Commission),
  3. That Stewart may have been deceived by her employees, who colluded with Nissen and Esker. Based on the evidence currently before me (which again I will share below), it is possible that Stewart:
    • Was originally deceived and unaware of what the other defendants submitted to the Commission, 
    • Is currently under duress and being coerced by the other defendants and their shared attorney to go along with their aggressive and accusatory legal defense.

article in making. please check back

As a transgender woman who already faces prejudice regarding “violating women’s spaces”, 

 

 

 

page in making. please check back soon.

 

 

Summary of What Happened

  • In accordance with three separate agreements, I performed about 6 months of volunteer labor for the nonprofit Reliable Street in Ames, Iowa. Two of the agreements included my continued work throughout 2022, as confirmed by the President of Reliable Street, Lyndsay Nissen, in two separate emails.
  • After performing months of labor, Reliable Street, who originally approached me to request that I help manage their garden, would not purchase any supplies that were needed for the garden. The agreement included my work alongside the high school gardening club “SHEPH”; it was not until after months of work – just before SHEPH and I had planned spring planting – that the lack of needed supplies to prepare for planting became a real issue. Because there appeared to be no support for supplies coming in, I went ahead and purchased the items I could afford. After informing Reliable Street that a few more supplies were still needed, they requested that I meet them in the garden on March 31, 2022. During the meeting, Nissen and Vice President, Sharon Stewart (who is also a co-owner of Lockwood Café), informed me that they received a complaint about me “violating a woman’s space”, then banned me from the property. Even though I was  For days I thought about this thoroughly, and no instance which could have been construed as me violating someone came to mind; after describing the situation to friends and trying to figure out what was going on, I came to the conclusion I had been gaslighted; used by Reliable Street to clean up their run down property for six months, then kicked off the property without explanation.
  • These false testimonies were submitted alongside a falsified document and another document which included out-of-context statements screenshotted from various threads in order to trick the Iowa Civil Rights Commission into believing that I was not discriminated against, and to 

 

The State of Iowa is Aiding and Abetting the Defendants

The State of Iowa’s response to the discrimination claim I filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, who decided not to investigate my complaint even after I showed them irrefutable evidence that as well as how , through the Ames Police Department, Story County Attorney’s Office, Iowa Civil Rights Commission, Attorney General’s Office, and both the Polk and Story County courts is also a testament regarding how broken, unjust, and in dire need of reform Iowa’s court system and executive agencies have become. You can read more about that here and here.