Ed Failor Jr.

Overview

Ed Failor Jr., the top aide to Iowa Senate Republican Minority Leader Bill Dix, was centrally involved in the harassment-and-retaliation case brought by former Senate GOP communications director Kirsten Anderson. A Polk County jury awarded Anderson $1.75 million. Failor resigned in March 2018.

Description

Anderson sued the Iowa Senate Republican caucus alleging a hostile workplace rife with sexual harassment. The jury unanimously ruled in her favor, finding she had been fired in retaliation for complaining about the harassment. Failor had routinely commented negatively on Anderson’s clothing and shoes in the months before her May 2013 termination and signed off on her firing. Even after the verdict, he never acknowledged that Anderson faced discrimination or retaliation. The scandal ultimately forced out Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix. Failor resigned in March 2018, saying he wanted the next Republican leader to assemble his own team.