(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Fired state corrections officer wins jobless benefits • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-08
A state corrections officer fired for misconduct has been awarded jobless benefits, with a judge finding the state’s own evidence failed to back up its claims of wrongdoing.
Samantha Holub worked for the Iowa Department of Corrections at the Anamosa State Penitentiary from November 2023 through February 2025, when she was placed on administrative leave. She was fired on April 2, 2025 for allegedly violating rules related to employee conduct.
According to the DOC, a review of security-camera footage indicated that in early February, Holub took a Ziploc bag out of her pocket, removed a pill, and then gave the pill to an inmate. The DOC allegedly discovered another incident that occurred at around the same time that involved Holub giving a handwritten note to an inmate while they were in the infirmary.
The department also alleged Holub had been using the workplace Google Chat software to communicate with co-workers at non-work email addresses — a potential security violation.
According to state records, DOC investigator Michael Griffith interviewed Holub, who allegedly explained the incident with the pill by stating that nurses withheld ibuprofen from inmates who visited the infirmary since it was hoped the inmates would instead purchase the drug through the commissary.
Holub allegedly explained that it can take days for the commissary-ordered medications to arrive after they’re ordered, leaving the individuals in pain – and so, after seeing a nurse refuse one inmate’s request for ibuprofen, she gave the inmate the drug.
As for the note passing, Holub explained she had talked to an inmate who was interested in applying for a part-time job in the infirmary and had written down for the inmate the names and job titles of administrators who handled such applications.
Holub admitted using Google Chat to communicate with others through non-work email addresses, but indicated she was unaware that was not allowed.
Recently, Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Johnson presided over a hearing on Holub’s request for unemployment benefits, which the DOC had challenged.
At the hearing, the DOC chose not to offer any witness statements, any video evidence, or any records to support its decision to discharge Holub, Johnson noted. “The employer’s own testimony also failed to support its stated reasons for discharging (Holub),” Johnson said in her ruling, adding that Holub’s explanations for her conduct were credible.
Johnson also pointed out that while the DOC claimed Holub’s use of Google Chat had violated security protocol, that claim was “undermined by a supervisor” who had initiated one of the conversations the department was citing as evidence of wrongdoing.
“Out of the alleged 324 pages of messages in the employer’s possession, it did not submit a single message as evidence for the hearing,” Johnson stated in her ruling. “The evidence in the record does not establish the employer discharged (Holub) for disqualifying, job-related misconduct. It may have complied with its internal policies in ending her employment, and this decision does not question the soundness of the employer’s business decision.”
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