Matthew Lewis Hunter v. City of Des Moines, Iowa; and Des Moines Police Bargaining Unit, Jane Doe No. 1, John Doe No. 2, John Doe No. 3, John Doe No. 4, and John Doe No. 5

── Matthew Lewis Hunter v. City of Des Moines, Iowa; and Des Moines Police Bargaining Unit, Jane Doe No. 1, John Doe No. 2, John Doe No. 3, John Doe No. 4, and John Doe No. 5 ── Court: Supreme Court of Iowa Date: April 24, 2026 Category: General In the Iowa Supreme Court No. 24–0735 Submitted February 19, 2026—Filed April 24, 2026 Matthew Lewis Hunter, Appellee, vs. City of Des Moines, Iowa, Appellant. On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals. Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, judge. The parties seek further review of a court of appeals decision that reversed a judgment in favor of the plaintiff on disability-discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claims and remanded for a new trial on the disability-discrimination claim. Decision of Court of Appeals Affirmed; District Court Judgment Reversed and Case Remanded. Mansfield, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which all justices joined. Michelle Mackel-Wiederanders (argued) and Luke DeSmet, Assistant City Attorneys, Des Moines, for appellant. David Albrecht (argued) of Iowa Employment Attorneys, P.L.C., West Des Moines, and Kellie L. Paschke and Kelly Verwers Meyers (until withdrawal) of Skinner & Paschke, P.L.L.C., West Des Moines, for appellee.  2 Mansfield, Justice. I. Introduction. This highly contested case comes to us following a jury trial, a verdict for the plaintiff, and a 3–2 decision of the court of appeals. It involves a highly regarded police officer who suffered a mental health crisis after his best friend on the police force died by suicide. One night the officer drank excessively at a wedding celebration in another town, got into his vehicle to drive home, and then was arrested and had a series of confrontations with law enforcement. During those confrontations, the officer repeatedly invoked his status as a police officer and threatened to do physical harm or ruin the careers of those he engaged with. He also at times used misogynistic and homophobic language. The officer was immediately remorseful for his misconduct and sought psychological help, which led to a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the colleague’s suicide. But in the meantime, a disciplinary process went forward, and the police chief terminated the officer’s employment the day after he disclosed his PTSD diagnosis. The officer then filed suit under the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA), alleging discrimination on the basis of his PTSD disability. The officer maintained that he could have continued as a police officer with a reasonable accommodation and that he was terminated for having PTSD. The City responded that it terminated the officer because of his misconduct and that in any event he was no longer qualified to be an officer because of his PTSD. Both sides presented substantial evidence in support of their positions, and we conclude that the officer’s disability-discrimination claim was properly submitted to the jury. However, we agree with the thorough and well-reasoned majority opinion of the court of appeals which found that the jury’s verdict was tainted by a novel jury instruction—not previously approved by us or in any other  3 reported decision—that redefined disability discrimination under the ICRA. We also agree with the court of appeals that the plaintiff’s failure-to-accommodate claim fails as a matter of law. Accordingly, for the reasons stated herein, we affirm the decision of the court of appeals, reverse the judgment of the district court, and remand for a new trial on the plaintiff’s disability-discrimination claim. II. Facts and Procedural History. A. Sergeant Hunter’s Record as a Police Officer. Matthew Hunter began his career as a police officer in 2000 with the Des Moines Police Department (DM