Opinion ID: 1302380
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The City's Unclean Hands Contention.

Text: As a defense against the granting of any equitable relief to Davis, the city urges that he comes into court with unclean hands. This argument is premised on the contention that, under the civil service regulations of the city, persons filling temporary vacancies may only remain in the position for ninety days. It urges that the intent of that requirement is that the position be filled within approximately that period of time. If that had occurred in the present case, the city urges, Davis would not have obtained his GED in time to qualify for civil service consideration for the permanent position. Davis urges, and we agree, that the civil service regulation on which the city relies only applies when vacancies have been declared. In this case, the city delayed declaring a vacancy because of the uncertainty of whether Ron Johnson, the person who held the foreman post, would be able to return to work. That decision was entirely the city's to make. The city may not sustain an unclean hands argument based on circumstances that it itself created. See Garrison v. Fetters, 383 N.W.2d 550, 553 (Iowa 1986). Moreover, even if the ninety-day limitation (which the rule provides may be extended [2] ) was applicable to Davis's appointment, this regulation only affects the length of time that any one person may serve on a temporary basis. It does not directly affect the length of time that may be taken to fill the position with a permanent appointment.