A former Nevada School District employee can't sue his former employer after signing a severance agreement giving up his right to litigation over his dismissal.
David Schmitz, who had worked five years as a food service director for the district, was terminated in March 2019 after failing to improve a substantial financial shortfall in his department, according to the district. He also was investigated by state and local officials over allegations he stole food for his own use.
Schmitz sued the district, claiming that the alleged budget woes were in fact due to sloppy recordkeeping by the district, including instances in which expenses from other accounts were wrongly charged to his. He claimed the district fired him in retaliation for disclosing those issues to the Iowa Department of Education. The tips accusing him of stealing food, he said in the suit, were unfounded and came from a bitter former girlfriend.
The case was scheduled to go to trial May 3, but on Monday the court granted the district's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case.
At the time of his termination, Schmitz signed a termination agreement giving up his right to sue the district in exchange for being kept on paid administrative leave for the nearly four months remaining on his contract. That agreement,...
In January of 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice reported a record-breaking year for False Claims Act recoveries, with the vast majority related to healthcare. What the DOJ report does not captu...