FORT DODGE — A $450,000 settlement in the civil rights complaint filed by former Webster County Sheriff’s Deputy Amy Stringer was made public Thursday.

Stringer received $50,000 immediately. She will receive ongoing monthly payments of $3,570 that will continue from January 2025 through December 2031, according to documents signed earlier this year.

The settlement also pays her attorney, Roxanne Conlin & Associates, of Des Moines, $150,000.

Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener, one of the defendants in the complaint, issued a statement after the settlement announcement was made public.

“I have maintained the fact that our Administration Team did nothing wrong since this complaint was filed a year ago. We, Deputy Christie and I, as well as the Webster County Board of Supervisors and Webster County Human Resources Director Ted Vaughn, were looking forward to our day in court to defend our reputations and our department and county, as it pertained to these accusations. Unfortunately we will not have a chance to let the truth be heard in a court of law. It’s disappointing that this type of complaint can be settled for financial gain.”

In addition to Fleener, the civil rights complaint listed Webster County Chief Deputy Derek Christie, Webster County Human Resources Director Ted Vaughn, Webster County Attorney Darren Driscoll, Webster County, the Webster County Board of Supervisors and Detective Thomas Steck as defendants.

In her original complaint to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Stringer alleged that Detective Thomas Steck was involved in criminal activity, namely “covering up for an informant by providing him with a fake alibi” and “beating a person in custody without cause,” according to a story published in The Messenger in 2023.

She alleged that after she reported Steck, the sheriff and chief deputy began to target her in retaliation.

Stringer’s civil rights complaint asserted that the discrimination she received, including retaliation, harassment and being forced to resign, was based on her sex as a female and because she reported discrimination to someone within the sheriff’s office.

Stringer said she went to Ted Vaughn, the human resources director for the county departments, on March 7, 2023, to file an official complaint about Steck’s alleged harassment of her and others, and of the retaliation she was facing from leadership within the Sheriff’s Office.

“Ted wanted to help, but he also didn’t want to interfere with the DCI investigation,” Stringer wrote, according to the previous Messenger report.

It was shortly after that meeting that she decided she needed to leave the sheriff’s office.

“As a result of the retaliation I faced, being scrutinized for everything I did, being singled out repeatedly and being passed up on positions I was told I would previously get, I knew I had to resign,” she wrote, according to the same previous Messenger story.

“Following my yearly evaluation, I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue to grow in my career. I was told I was lazy and selfish, even though I had never been warned or talked to about these apparent issues prior to my complaint against Steck. I also know Sheriff Fleener wants to bring Steck back and I could not work at a place where I would be in constant fear. Thus, because of the way the Webster County Sheriff’s Office treated me, I was forced to quit my job.”

She resigned from the sheriff’s office on April 9, 2023.

Steck resigned from the sheriff’s office on July 27, 2023. He had been placed on administrative leave on Oct. 19, 2022. During the nearly nine months he was on paid administrative leave, Steck collected roughly $65,000 in salary and benefits.

Driscoll released this statement after the settlement was made public Thursday:

“A settlement has been finalized resolving disputed civil rights claims brought by former Webster County employee, Amy Stringer. The settlement releases all claims Stringer may have had against former Webster County employee, Thomas Steck, Webster County, the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, and other Webster County officials. Webster County entered into this settlement agreement on the advice of the county’s risk pool and outside legal counsel. It was determined that it would be in the best interest of the public that these claims be amicably resolved without additional litigation. The respondents to the complaint maintain their denial of any wrongdoing in this matter. A copy of the settlement agreement is available for public inspection.”

Stringer is now a patrol officer with the Fort Dodge Police Department. Prior to her resignation from the sheriff’s office, she spent 10 years working as a deputy with the department, the last four of which she worked as a detective. Stringer is a Fort Dodge native, but started her law enforcement career with the Dodge City Police Department in Dodge City, Kansas, where she served as a patrol officer, a gang officer and a member of the problem-oriented policing unit.