My question involves unemployment benefits for the state of: IOWA
I was fired for "actions that jeopardized the health, safety and well-being" of a client in service. I work for a group home for adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Basically, a client got into my purse and pulled out a prescribed medication, and proceeded to chew on the bottle. (she was not attempting to access the meds, she just puts things in her mouth and doesn't know any better) I was working with another staff and was with a client when this happened. When she was discovered by other staff, she was standing with bottle in her mouth chewing on it, and the top had popped off the bottle and the pills were on the floor. Due to the multiple crushed (many to a powdery substance) it was not possible to count the pills left. Both staff did an immediate sweep of her mouth, and searched her face, hands, clothes etc for evidence of pills/powder. It was determined she had not ingested anything. Staff then cleaned up the mess. The next 4 hours this client did not exhibit any unusual behavior. Upon the 4th hour, she did something that was abnormal and for precautionary reasons due to the incident earlier, staff called 911. We were both fired. The company states she did not call a supervisor or medical personnel when this happened. This is true. We did not because we determined without a reason of a doubt that she was not able to ingest anything. (keep in mind this client almost injures herself every single day) My termination letter states several reasons: The client exhibited unusual behavior during this time and we did not notify medical personnel or supervisor. This is a lie...she never exhibited anything unusual until approx 7pm when I called 911. Another comment was made that my purse was left in an "unsecured area of her home." Also note that there is NO unsecured area. It is against company policy, and as they tell us all the time, against DIA regulations as it is restrictive and no locked cabinets are allowed in her home. Also note: Her parents have backed me up 100% through this. They even wrote a letter in my defense for my fact finding interview, and I was still denied for "gross negligence." I plan to appeal...but I don't know what to do. There have been ongoing issues with this company. They have refused to put protective measures in place for this client, even at her parents many requests...and they are throwing me under the bus to make themselves look better with DIA. On a last note, DIA has still not completed their investigation, but DHS has, and they closed handling as "unfounded." It is also important to notice that I have two prior write ups. The first was a med error. I neglected to give a client a med over a year ago. Please know...med errors are rampant in this company...even the nurse is constantly found making errors. Some people have them all the time. I had one a year ago. The second...a bigger issue. Written up for insubordination. During a state survey, the company states I was insubordinate to my supervisor who was present, was mean to the clients, called their food disgusting, made statements during dinner like "we don't use condiments" etc etc. This was all said by a supervisor who is a big liar. None of that happened. They claim the state surveyor said this, but refused to give me anything in writing, claiming it was mentioned during "casual conversation" with the surveyor. We also received a "deficiency free" survey. I appealed this write up with the company. Twice. Both times denied. To this day, they refused to talk to the other staff I was working with...who 100% backs me up. She was a witness, and they refused to take a statement from her. Funny how that same week that same supervisor "stepped down for personal reasons." She was in fact the one doing things against company policy, not me. So...do I even have a chance? What do I do? They don't care about listening to all this. Won't they just look at the fact that I had two prior write ups...and now this is my third strike??? I can even supply multiple cards and letters from my supervisors claiming what a good job I do, how I clearly care about the clients and how dedicated I am to my job. I've been there two years and never even missed a day of work. They had to pay out 160 hours of pto when they let me go. And it would have been more if there was a cap on it...that was the highest it could get to.

