Hawkeye Community College had a voluntary early retirement program enacted by the local board for several years. Appellant's application for benefits under the program was denied on June 26, 2001. Appellant testified that her contract year, and not Hawkeye's fiscal year, was the pertinent time period for purposes of the early retirement policy. Appellant received a notice and application in October 2000. Appellant requested an early retirement date of August 14, 2001; the application is dated December 5, 2000 and was approved on December 12, 2000 by the Hawkeye Board of Trustees at a regular board meeting.

Nine Hawkeye employees including Appellant applied for early retirement when notified of their eligibility to do so. Five requested a retirement date into fiscal year 2002. These five employees were deemed eligible by Hawkeye and moved up their retirement dates by 10 months. Appellant was not offered a contract for fiscal year 2002 and was not deemed eligible for additional benefits under the one-time program. The program does not state directly on its face that it is limited to employees with a fiscal 2002 employment contract.

Appellant argued she was treated unfairly and differently under the one-time program. The coworkers with whom Appellant wishes to be compared must have been similarly situated in all relevant respects. The coworkers with whom Appellant compares herself all had employment contracts for 2002 when they were declared eligible for the one-time program. These employees were not similarly situated to Appellant.

The Hawkeye Board of trustees acted reasonably when it denied additional benefits to Ms. Weichers under the one-time program

That the decision of the Board of Trustees of Hawkeye Community College made on June 26, 2001, denying Appellant's application, was affirmed.