Iowa school workers and health care professionals fired for alleged misconduct
Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa)
An eastern Iowa school bus driver has been fired after twice dropping off a 5-year-old child at the wrong bus stop.
State records indicate Tracy L. Fisher worked for the Mid-Prairie Community School District, located about 15 miles south of Iowa City, as a bus driver from 2008 through the first week of March 2024, when she was fired.
On March 4, the district alleged, it received a phone call from the parents of a 5-year-old child indicating their child was missing and had not been dropped off at the child’s designated bus stop. The child was later found several miles away near a different bus stop.
Fisher was fired, with the district arguing her conduct created a risk of students getting injured, becoming lost, or being abducted while parents were out looking for them.
According to the district, Fisher had been given a warning for a similar incident on Aug. 28, 2023, when the same child was dropped at the wrong location.
Fisher subsequently applied for unemployment benefits and was denied, with the judge citing conduct that was contrary to the employer’s interests and the prior warning from the district.
Other Iowans whose unemployment cases recently went before a judge include:
— Nicholle Embry, who worked as a special education associate for the Saydel Community School District from November 2023 until she was fired in February 2024. The district alleged she had borrowed money from other staffers, a parent, and a school board member. According to the district, Embry confirmed she had borrowed money from a parent and a school board member, Jen Van Houten, among others, and had asked to borrow money from Associate Principal Shannon Mohling.
The superintendent recommended to the school board that Embry be terminated, although Embry had not been disciplined or informally coached about her conduct prior to being fired. A judge awarded Embry unemployment benefits, noting she had not been given any warnings about engaging in prohibited behavior even after her contacts with the associate principal and school board member.
— Viviana Rai, who worked as a certified nurse assistant in a care facility run by Accordius Health at St. Mary in Davenport from April 2023 through the second week of March 2024, when she was fired. The company fired Rai, citing a policy that prohibits employees from accepting gifts that are valued at $25 or more from residents. On March 1, 2024, the husband of a resident tried to give staff members of the facility $40 to buy themselves dinner as a sign of his appreciation for the care they provided to his wife.
The staff declined the offer, but when the husband insisted, Rai accepted the money and gave it to her supervisor in accordance with company policy. The supervisor allowed the staff to order dinner from Pizza Hut so they all could share pizza, pasta and breadsticks. A judge awarded Rai unemployment benefits, noting that she had complied with company policy and had reported the gift to a supervisor who made the decision to order dinner for the staff.
— April Boatman, who worked as a direct-service professional for REM Iowa Community Services, a company that provides services for people with disabilities, until she was fired in March 2024. The company alleged Boatman was fired due to allegations that she had stolen property from a group home where she was providing services to REM Iowa clients. She was also accused of accepting a $15 Starbucks gift card from a client after being warned not to accept such gifts.
According to REM Iowa, Boatman was seen on video taking cleaning products and toilet paper from the group home where she worked, and clients and a co-worker reported overhearing her getting frustrated with clients and threatening to send them to a nursing home. Boatman denied any wrongdoing, but her claim for unemployment benefits was rejected by a judge who found she had committed workplace misconduct.
— Myra Oden, who worked as a certified medication aide for Western Home Services, which operates nursing homes in Iowa, until she was fired on March 12, 2024. The company alleged that on March 4, 2024, a resident’s call light at the care facility where Oden worked went unanswered for 20 minutes before Oden checked on the resident. The company said a video recording captured Oden sitting in a chair, with the call-light signal visible to her, for the entire 20-minute period. Oden was denied unemployment benefits.
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