National Park Service settles whistleblower appeal

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The National Park Service has reached a settlement with an Iowa employee who said she was unfairly fired over an embarrassing case of mishandled ancient Native American remains.

Records released to The Associated Press show the agency in April agreed to reinstate former Effigy Mounds National Monument employee Sharon Greener with back pay.

Her attorney says the settlement required the agency to pay her legal fees and make her eligible to retire early.

Greener was accused of a “lack of candor” and misusing a government computer. She argued that her 2013 firing was unfair and violated whistleblower protections.

The appeal claimed Greener reported eight times that a former superintendent had improperly removed artifacts from the museum’s collection in 1990. The artifacts were finally returned in 2011, outraging tribes.