Author

Clark Kauffman
Clark Kauffman is deputy editor of the Iowa Capital Dispatch. He has worked during the past 30 years as both an investigative reporter and editorial writer at two of Iowa’s largest newspapers, the Des Moines Register and the Quad-City Times. He has won numerous state and national awards for reporting and editorial writing. His 2004 series on prosecutorial misconduct in Iowa was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. From October 2018 through November 2019, Kauffman was an assistant ombudsman for the Iowa Office of Ombudsman, an agency that investigates citizens’ complaints of wrongdoing within state and local government agencies.
Owner of St. Louis Post-Dispatch seeks dismissal of privacy-violation lawsuit
By: Clark Kauffman - May 30, 2023
The Iowa-based newspaper chain that owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges it violated customers’ privacy rights through information sharing with Facebook. Lee Enterprises is facing a potential class-action lawsuit alleging it has shared readers’ personal information with Facebook in violation of federal law. The lawsuit, filed last […]
U.S. Supreme Court rejects pork producers’ challenge of California law
By: Clark Kauffman - May 12, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an Iowa organization’s challenge to a law imposing restrictions on the sale of pork in California. The decision marks a significant defeat for Iowa pork producers who have long argued that California’s law, backed by animal-welfare advocates, would disrupt the agricultural industry by allowing states to dictate the […]
Lawsuit accuses Lee Enterprises, publisher of St. Louis Post-Dispatch, of privacy violations
By: Clark Kauffman - December 23, 2022
The Iowa-based newspaper chain Lee Enterprises is facing a potential class-action lawsuit alleging it has shared readers’ personal information with Facebook in violation of federal law. Lee publishes newspapers and other media content in 77 markets across 26 states, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court, alleges that […]
Biden student debt forgiveness plan on hold after appeals court ruling
By: Ariana Figueroa and Clark Kauffman - October 21, 2022
This story was updated at 8:02 p.m. WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from carrying out its student loan forgiveness plan, until the court makes a determination on a request for an injunction brought by six Republican-led states, according to multiple media reports. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court […]
Tyson asks U.S. Supreme Court to shield it from COVID-19 lawsuits in state courts
By: Clark Kauffman - July 25, 2022
Faced with court rulings that say a Trump administration directive doesn’t protect Tyson Foods from liability caused by workers’ deaths due to COVID-19, the food giant is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter. Arguing that recent court rulings against the company will have “drastic consequences for the next national […]
Casey’s denies allegations it shortchanges pizza-delivery drivers
By: Clark Kauffman - March 26, 2022
Casey’s General Store is denying allegations that the company’s pizza-delivery drivers are being shortchanged on their wages. The company, which operates roughly 2,300 stores in 16 states including Missouri, allegedly pays its drivers a flat rate of $2 per delivery, but doesn’t track drivers’ actual vehicle expenses or make any attempt to reimburse drivers for […]
Tyson faces new legal challenges over its pandemic response
By: Clark Kauffman - November 5, 2021
Tyson Foods is facing new challenges in its effort to dispose of lawsuits that accuse the company of failing to protect workers from injury and death caused by COVID-19. In the past few months, the U.S. Department of Justice has sided with Tyson workers on a key element of the case; a federal judge in […]
Judge: Trump’s order doesn’t shield Tyson from state-court claims of wrongful death
By: Clark Kauffman - January 6, 2021
A federal judge has ruled that President Trump’s designation of meatpacking plants as “critical infrastructure” does not insulate Tyson Foods from state-court claims of wrongful death tied to the pandemic. The food giant is facing several lawsuits filed by the estates of deceased workers. Generally, those lawsuits allege fraudulent misrepresentation and gross negligence, claiming the […]
Tyson hires former AG Eric Holder to investigate claims of betting on worker COVID infections
By: Clark Kauffman - November 20, 2020
Tyson Foods’ CEO announced Thursday he has hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to lead an “independent investigation” into a lawsuit’s claims that managers at one of the company’s Iowa plants placed bets on the number of workers who would contract COVID-19. The claims of a betting pool at the food giant’s Waterloo, Iowa, […]
Lawsuit: Tyson managers in Iowa bet money on how many workers would contract COVID-19
By: Clark Kauffman - November 19, 2020
A wrongful death lawsuit tied to COVID-19 infections in an Iowa pork processing plant alleges that during the initial stages the pandemic, Tyson Foods ordered employees to report for work while supervisors privately wagered money on the number of workers who would be sickened by the deadly virus. Earlier this year, the family of the […]