(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Iowans fired for patient-care issues, lottery theft, profane text messages • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- March']
Date: 2024-03-16
An employee of an eastern Iowa hospital was fired in January for allegedly placing a patient in danger.
State records indicate Megan Manary worked for one year as an admissions coordinator for Eastern Iowa Rehabilitation Center in Coralville until she was fired in December 2023 for allegedly transporting a patient to the second floor of the facility without permission from the clinical staff.
The patient had a seizure disorder and was known to be at risk of suffering severe seizures up to four times per day. Taking the patient to the second floor – where no patients were typically served — reportedly placed the patient at risk because the second floor didn’t have the staff or resources to assist the patient in the event of a seizure.
According to the hospital, the Manary was aware of the seizure disorder and of the need to keep the patient on the first floor where immediate assistance could be obtained if needed.
After she was fired, Manary sought unemployment benefits, which led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Emily Drenkow Carr, who ruled that Manary was ineligible.
“As an admissions coordinator, (Manary) was aware of the patient’s medical status and that she suffered from severe seizures,” Carr ruled, adding that Manary’s “unilateral decision to take the resident to the second floor while knowing the risk it posed to the patient was a violation of the employer’s policy.”
Other unemployment case decisions
Other Iowans whose unemployment cases were recently decided include:
— Heather Walker, who worked for Linn County as a full-time detention officer from August 2022 until she was fired in December 2023. The county alleged it had received a complaint from an employee about Walker sending a text that stated, “Yup, dumb b—- called.” The county concluded the text referred to a colleague who had called in sick, upsetting Walker because it meant she’d have to work a double shift. The county had previously warned Walker for similar conduct when she allegedly sent a co-worker a message that stated, “You know you are a pathetic c—, don’t contact me, you stupid b—.” Walker was denied unemployment benefits, a decision that was upheld by the Employment Appeal Board, which concluded that Walker “not only sent this inappropriate text about a co-worker to a co-worker on work time, but she then lied about it to the employer.”
— Jamie L. Pluemer, who was fired from Care Initiatives, an Iowa nursing home operator, for allegedly falsifying patient records. Pluemer, who was a social worker at a care facility, allegedly completed patient-care records by falsely indicating she had given a cognitive test to a resident who was actually on a museum field trip that day. She was denied unemployment benefits.
— Joseph Gentile, who worked for Choice Rehabilitation as a physical therapist from August 2023 to December 2023, when he was fired for allegedly violating the company’s patient-privacy policies. On Dec. 8, 2023, Gentile was allegedly asked to treat a patient but left the worksite without doing so and then failed to input the correct treatment codes into a computer. After his employer inquired about the situation, Gentile allegedly accessed the electronic medical records system while off duty and while using a non-work computer, creating a potential breach of security. He was denied unemployment benefits.
— Stacy L. Ritchie, who worked for the Woodbury County Courthouse as a full-time senior clerk in the human resources office from March 2020 through her dismissal in January 2024. Ritchie was fired after the human resources director inquired as to why Ritchie hadn’t scanned a few workers’ compensation files into a computer. Ritchie had indicated the office was short-staffed and she hadn’t had time to perform the work. The human resources director allegedly informed Ritchie that if she resigned, she’d get a good job reference from the county, but if she refused, she would be fired. Ritchie resigned and was awarded unemployment benefits, with the judge citing “no evidence” of misconduct.
— Herve Nzombo, who worked for the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority, or DART, from May 2023 through October 2023 when he was fired. Nzombo was working on a project for DART that involved signing up employees for wellness screenings. At one point, he notified DART’s health care provider, UnityPoint, that 10-12 employees had signed up for screenings, but when DART’s human resources staff asked for a list of those workers, Nzombo allegedly admitted he had yet to sign up anyone, had failed to communicate with the staff about the upcoming screenings, and had falsified the information sent to UnityPoint. He had previously been warned about communicating misinformation about benefits to employees and working unauthorized overtime. He was denied unemployment benefits.
— Denise Perkins, who worked at the Casey’s General Store in Robins until October 2023, when she was fired after her supervisors allegedly captured her on video stealing 19 Iowa Lottery tickets. She was denied unemployment benefits. A felony charge of lottery theft is currently pending in Linn County District Court.
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