Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Community School District

TERNUS, Justice.

This case comes to us on a certified question from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa:

Does Iowa Code § 20.7(3) negate the presumption of at-will employment for all public employees covered under this provision of the Iowa Public Employment Relations Act?

Section 20.7(3) states that “[pjublic employers shall have ... the right to ... [sjuspend or discharge public employees for proper cause.” Iowa Code § 20.7(3) (1995). For reasons we shall explain, our answer to the certified question is “no”; section 20.7(3) does not negate the common law at-will…