(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
This story was originally published by Iowa Capital Dispatch and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Paramedic fired after testing positive for drug use is awarded jobless benefits • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- May', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width']
Date: 2025-05-26
A Jefferson County paramedic who was fired after testing positive for drug use is entitled to unemployment benefits, a judge has ruled.
State records indicate Jesse Husmann began working for Jefferson County as a full-time paramedic in October 2023. On Feb. 17, 2025, a hospital emergency room nurse allegedly reported to Ambulance Service Director Josh Hemminger that Husmann’s behavior that day was unusual.
Hemminger then spoke to one of Husmann’s co-workers about her behavior, and the co-worker allegedly reported Husmann seemed confused and didn’t know where certain things were located in the emergency room even though she frequently worked there, according to the records. The co-worker also is alleged to have reported that Husmann didn’t know how to get to the hospital, couldn’t sit still and had walked into a wall.
Hemminger then spoke with Husmann and allegedly observed that she could not sit still, and asked that she submit to drug test, the records show. Husmann agreed to do so and was allowed to drive herself to the testing site and then return to work. The next day, she was placed on paid administrative leave until the test results were produced.
On March 5, the lab allegedly faxed Hemminger the test results showing Husmann had tested positive for marijuana and amphetamines and that Husmann had not provided any information to explain the results. Husmann allegedly told Hemminger she was using marijuana to address a non-work injury and that she was taking a prescription medicine that would show up as amphetamines on a drug test, state records show. Husmann was immediately fired. She later applied for unemployment benefits, which led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Daniel Zeno.
Zeno recently ruled in Husmann’s favor and awarded her unemployment benefits, noting that Jefferson County “did not notify Ms. Husmann of the test results by certified mail return receipt” before firing her. As a result, Zeno found, the county could not use the results of the drug test as a basis for challenging her application for jobless benefits.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/05/26/paramedic-fired-after-testing-positive-for-drug-use-is-awarded-jobless-benefits/
Published and (C) by Iowa Capital Dispatch
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND-NC 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/iowacapitaldispatch/
