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DMACC director, fired after remark about pulling a knife, sues school • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-08
A former Des Moines Area Community College administrator, fired after making a comment about having “pulled a knife” on someone, is now suing the school, alleging age and racial discrimination.
Kim Jackson of Des Moines, who ran DMACC’s Upward Bound program for 20 years, is suing the school in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.
Jackson alleges she was employed by DMACC for a total of 26 years until she was abruptly and wrongfully terminated on July 2, 2024. She alleges she filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and that the EEOC subsequently issued her a formal notice of her right to sue, clearing the way for her lawsuit.
Jackson alleges the school fired her for the pretextual reasons of gross misconduct and conduct unbecoming a supervisor.
The lawsuit notes that in November 2024, an administrative law judge with the Iowa Unemployment Insurance Appeals Bureau conducted a hearing on Jackson’s unemployment benefits claim and later ruled that, contrary to what DMACC had claimed, Jackson had not engaged in workplace misconduct.
According to the findings of the judge in that case, Jackson had raised her voice during a discussion with other Upward Bound employees in June 2024. Jackson had “a family connection” to two students who were being discussed and the other Upward Bound employees felt Jackson had been favoring the two and treating them differently than the other students in the program.
After being told the two students were rude and behaving in an “entitled” manner, Jackson allegedly responded that if one of the two had made the comments attributed to him it was not appropriate, stating loudly, “If he spoke to you like that, he needs to be corrected. He did not come from a family where that is okay.”
The judge found that Jackson “did not yell at the other employees, use profanity, threaten anyone, or disagree with the premise of the conversation.”
The judge noted that two days later, Jackson apologized to her colleagues for having raised her voice. While explaining that she tried to control her anger, Jackson referenced an incident from her youth when she pulled a knife on someone when she was angry — a comment some of her DMACC colleagues allegedly took as a threat, the judge found.
She was later fired for her conduct.
As a result of the unemployment hearing, Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Johnson awarded Jackson jobless benefits, finding there was no workplace misconduct that would disqualify her.
“I do not believe Ms. Jackson referencing ‘pulling a knife’ on someone in her youth was a threat, but an explanation of why she no longer acts on her anger today,” Johnson ruled. “I do not think anyone in that meeting reasonably believed it was a threat, given that they all remained in the meeting and did not flee or call 911 or Campus Security.”
The lawsuit alleges the school’s stated reasons for firing Jackson were pretextual and that that DMACC’s Human Resources Department had been trying to get her to take early retirement since 2020, when she was roughly 60 years old.
“When Jackson was terminated, she was the only Black DMACC employee at a director-level position,” the lawsuit alleges. “Jackson’s responsibilities and roles were replaced by two white females who were more than 10 years younger than Jackson.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including back pay and punitive damages, for discrimination and retaliation.
DMACC has yet to file a response to the lawsuit. The school’s spokesperson could not be reached for comment late Thursday.
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