OTTUMWA — Teresa Peden’s lawsuit against Ottumwa Water and Hydro, Richard Wilcox and Rodney Hamilton has wrapped up. And it has just started.

Guy Cook, Peden’s attorney, originally filed the case in Polk County under an Iowa law that allows trials to move if they involve a body that levies fees or taxes on residents.

Michael Moreland, who is representing all of the defendants, filed a motion to move the trial out of Polk County. There was never a ruling on that motion because Cook essentially conceded the point. He asked the judge to dismiss the Polk County case without prejudice and refiled the suit in Wapello County.

Peden accuses former water works manager Wilcox of sexually harassing her while she worked at the plant as the financial services department head. The suit also accuses Hamilton and the water works’ board of retaliation when she reported Wilcox.

The move will make the case more accessible to area residents because it shifts the location of the case file to the Wapello County Courthouse. Court filings are generally open to the public through county court clerks’ offices. Anyone may view the basic information in a case through the Iowa Courts Online database, but it does not include the texts of specific filings.

Peden was fired in March after Hamilton and Jack Kirk, the water works board chairman, investigated an accusation that she attempted to steal a “tattoo sleeve” from the north Hy-Vee in Ottumwa. They concluded she had violated the water works’ policies by violating criminal laws, misconduct and conduct unbecoming an employee.

Peden was not criminally charged in the incident.

Peden recently received unemployment benefits after an administrative law judge reversed an earlier decision to deny the benefits.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com