AP/Hunter
12/07/21
A state panel has agreed to spend nearly $2 million to settle two federal lawsuits brought against the University of Iowa in 2017 after a religious group denied a gay student a leadership role. The Iowa State Appeal Board on Monday approved the court ordered settlements.
Lawyers for the student group Business Leaders in Christ were awarded $1.37 million dollars in fees and costs for litigating the case. The Daily Iowan reports that US District Court Judge Stephanie Rose itemized time spent by the Washington DC-based legal firm The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, saying that attorneys billed about 2300 hours, went over 23,000-plus pages of documents, and took eight depositions for the BlinC suit.
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship will be paid $20,000 in damages and about $513,000 in attorney fees. Rose said the firm billed over 850 hours, reviewed over 6000 pages of documents and took four depositions.
The cases stem from the university delisting the two organizations for what officials said was a failure to comply with civil rights. The lengthy litigation ended when the US Court of Appeals for the 8th District sided with the student groups, saying in a July decision what the university did was “clearly unconstitutional.”