DES MOINES – A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit involving a former vice president at a nursing home company, who claimed her boss sexually harassed her for years.

Jan Reis claimed in the Polk County District Court lawsuit that her former boss, Hulon Walker, the CEO of Care Initiatives, harassed her during most of her decade of employment, which ended when she was fired in 2005.

According to the lawsuit filed in April 2006, Walker served as president, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the nonprofit West Des Moines senior care center company.

It operates more than 50 nursing homes throughout the state of Iowa.

Reis was seeking unspecified compensation and damages, as well as punitive damages.

She claimed Walker subjected her to a sexually hostile work environment including grabbing and fondling her, kissing her, showing her photos of naked women and making sexually inappropriate comments.

Walker filed a counterclaim alleging Reis’ lawsuit was an abuse of process.

He claimed that she had filed the lawsuit with the intent of coercing a settlement from Care Initiatives.

After Walker’s counterclaim was filed, Reis filed for dismissal of her lawsuit and of Walker’s countersuit.

Federal Judge Ronald Longstaff granted both motions, but Walker appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Longstaff concluded that Reis’ lawsuit was not an improper purpose as a matter of Iowa law, and the appeals court agreed in its ruling filed on Monday.

Walker had argued that his counterclaim should not have been dismissed because he alleged he had suffered mental anguish and collateral damage to his personal and business reputation.

To assert those allegations, the appeals court said Walker should have amended his counterclaim petition.

Since he did not, the court said he had not preserved those arguments for appeal.

“We decline to consider a theory not preserved in the district court,” the appeals court said.