IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa institution for residents with intellectual disabilities has been ordered to reinstate a high-ranking official who was fired for alleged safety lapses two years ago. The Public Employment Relations Board says the firing of Glenwood Resource Center administrator Douglas Wise wasn’t justified and he must be returned to a similar job with back pay.

A settlement is expected to be finalized soon. It will likely cost taxpayers around $200,000 and result in Wise’s reinstatement, just as Glenwood faces a scandal involving incidents of verbal and physical abuse against numerous residents.

Wise’s attorney, Charles Gribble, said his client’s pleased with the ruling and looking forward to returning to work, “notwithstanding the problems at Glenwood.” Wise had been faulted for failing to carry out directives to remove batteries from a home where residents had swallowed them on three occasions. But he said that he trusted his subordinates’ claims that the batteries were gone.