Former County Attorney Accepts Suspension
An Iowa attorney consented to a voluntary suspension for appearing to defend a deposition while intoxicated.
KTIV.com reported
A woman who was once the attorney for Dickinson County, Iowa has pleaded guilty to public intoxication.
Last week, Amy Zenor enter a plea of guilty for showing up drunk at the Dickinson County Courthouse back in November 2022. Court documents state on Nov. 10 authorities were notified of a person who was believed to be intoxicated in the courthouse, that person was Zenor.
In her written plea, Zenor stated she tested over the legal limit that day with “a medical condition which leads to uncontrollable intoxication unless managed in advance by a prescribed food/beverage diet.”
Shortly after her arrest, Zenor resigned from her position as the Dickinson County Attorney. She also voluntarily suspended her license to practice law in the state of Iowa.
Steve Goodlow, an assistant county attorney for Dickinson County, was appointed to replace Zenor as the county attorney.
Iowa Capital Dispatch noted her resignation from office
Dickinson County’s top criminal prosecutor, charged with public intoxication and accused of being “passed out” on more than one occasion while at work, has submitted her resignation to the county board.
According to the Dickinson County website, the board of supervisors voted earlier this week to accept the resignation of County Attorney Amy Zenor.
And also described a lawsuit
Currently, Zenor and Dickinson County are defendants in a lawsuit brought by Hillary Henningsen, a former employee of Zenor’s office who alleges she faced harassment and retaliation from Zenor and others at work because of her gender and her status as a pregnant woman.
Henningsen alleges that in October 2018, while 20 weeks pregnant and working as a sheriff’s investigator for the office of the Dickinson County attorney, she talked to Sheriff Greg Baloun and asked about the county’s policy on maternity leave.
Baloun allegedly responded, “I would just keep your mouth shut about that because you shouldn’t even be working … You can’t fit into a uniform, you can’t be a deputy.”
“So, I am supposed to be off work without pay until after the baby in late February 2019?” Henningsen allegedly asked.
Baloun reportedly responded, “Yep, that is what I make the jailors do who have been pregnant. I’m not going to create a position for you to pull out staples.”
When Henningsen asked whether Baloun was threatening her job, the sheriff allegedly responded, “I can’t fire you because you are pregnant … I’m just saying that if you become too much of a pain in the ass …”
Henningsen had her baby in March 2019. In January 2020, Zenor, who had been an assistant county attorney, took over the position of county attorney. On one occasion in late January 2020, the lawsuit alleges, Zenor brought a beverage container into work. The container allegedly was tested by an assistant county attorney for alcohol, with the results coming back positive.
The lawsuit alleges that both before and after Zenor took over as county attorney, Henningsen saw Zenor at work when she was “obviously under the influence of alcohol and to the point of inebriation.” Zenor also is alleged to have made comments about cases “which made no sense” while talking with Henningsen and others in the prosecutors’ office.
The lawsuit also alleges Zenor came into work while appearing “zoned out” and she “regularly forgot what she had told defense attorneys in criminal cases, and would deny having made plea deals that she had actually made earlier … In addition, Zenor was found passed out in her office a couple of times and one time was found passed out on the bathroom floor.”
In April 2021, Zenor allegedly informed Henningsen that her employment was being terminated due to the county’s elimination of her position. Zenor has denied any wrongdoing in Henningsen’s termination. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in September 2023.
(Mike Frisch)