(Radio Iowa – Des Moines) Senate Republicans and the state’s attorney general are seeking a new trial after a jury awarded a former Senate Republican Caucus Staff employee two-point-two-million dollars for being subjected to harassment and retaliation. The motion for a new trial refers to the two-point-two MILLION dollars as “excessive damages” that appear “to have been influenced by passion or prejudice.”

The defendants in the case are arguing they’re entitled to a new trial due to statements Kirsten Anderson’s attorney made in court about how the jury could “send a message” with a verdict in Anderson’s favor. The motion also argues there was not sufficient evidence to support the damage amount awarded by the jury. Mike Carroll, one of Anderson’s attorneys, says he is “not shocked” by the motion for a new trial.

But Carroll says the arguments made in the motion are “inconsistent with the jury’s verdict” and with statements the governor and others have made about having “zero tolerance” of sexual harassment in the workplace.