Story County officials have agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former deputy who alleged harassment and discrimination in the sheriff’s office.
The lawsuit involved former county deputy Ashley Murry, who sued the Story County Sheriff’s Office and deputies Kyle Thompson, Leanna Ellis, Nathan Gruis, Adam Luke and Cody Hamilton in Story County District Court.
Murry, who worked as a deputy sheriff from April 2022 to November 2023, alleged she was the target of harassment from her supervisors and her coworkers, and was subjected to unwelcome derogatory and crude comments and insults that created a hostile work environment.
Murry alleged that after she was hired, and prior to leaving for training at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, Ellis instructed her to “keep your legs closed” while at the academy.
The lawsuit also alleged that during field training, Murry was required to handle a disproportionately higher number of calls compared to her male counterparts and that she was subjected to negative stereotypes associated with female officers, with her male colleagues telling her she wasn’t assertive enough and was bad at driving.
Murry also claimed that during work hours, the male deputies — including Hamilton, Luke and Gruis — would “sit in dispatch or in the office and watch football and yell profanities.”
The lawsuit alleged that during the annual sexual harassment and discrimination training for the staff, male deputies called a female colleague a “lesbian that could fix go-karts.”
There were also “many occasions that her male co-workers refused to provide” Murry with backup, jeopardizing her safety, the lawsuit claimed. In June 2023, Murry allegedly initiated a traffic stop in which the driver called four male associates to the scene. The four men allegedly drove to the location of the traffic stop and ignored Murry’s instructions to remain in their vehicles, prompting her to call for backup. The lawsuit claims Hamilton was available at the time, but refused to assist Murry, later telling her “sometimes you have to handle things on your own.”
While responding to a different incident in which an individual pulled out a large knife, Murry twice called dispatch for backup “but no one ever came to assist her,” the lawsuit alleged, adding that Ellis later berated Murry for her handling of the situation and told her she needed to be “more assertive.”
In September 2023, Thompson allegedly informed Murry a statistical analysis of her use of sick time showed a “suspicious” use of sick days on Mondays and Fridays, and allegedly referred to Murry as a “buddy f—er.”
The lawsuit, which was first filed in August 2024, alleged that the “hostile work environment and constant degradation” gave Murry no other option but to resign in November 2023.
The county and its co-defendants denied any wrongdoing and stated in court they “did not discriminate at any time against (Murry) nor did they harass” her.
According to the written settlement agreement in the case, Murray has agreed to drop all claims against the defendants in exchange for $75,000.
Settlement bars former deputy from disclosing terms
In October, before the agreement was formally approved, the Iowa Capital Dispatch requested a copy of the document. At the time, Assistant County Attorney Crystal Rink stated that “the requested record is a privileged attorney-client communication and is confidential.”
The Capital Dispatch responded by providing Rink with a “No Secret Settlements” advisory from the attorney general’s office that says under Iowa law, “in government, settlements are not secret,” and that “public disclosure is the rule, and confidentiality is the exception.”
On Oct. 31, 2025, Rink then responded by stating the county “does not possess a final, binding, written settlement agreement” in the case.
On Jan. 7, 2026, the Capital Dispatch renewed its request for the document, noting that Murry’s lawsuit had been dismissed by the court on Jan. 5, 2026, at the request of her attorney. That same day, Rink provided the Capital Dispatch with a copy of the settlement indicating it was signed and approved by the county board on Nov. 7, 2025.
The settlement includes a confidentiality provision that bars Murry from publishing its contents “on any social media or internet site or to any news media outlet.” The provision also allows Story County to “discuss or provide information internally” on the settlement or to comply with open records laws.
