An Iowa nursing home won its appeal against a worker who quit her job over the facility’s personal protective equipment policy and collected nearly $5,000 in unemployment benefits.
The decision was handed down by Administrative Law Judge Jennifer Beckham during the first week of December in favor of Luther Manor Communities, a 103-bed facility in Dubuque, IA, the Iowa Capital reported. The jobless benefits were denied for Stephanie Lindsey, a former full-time cook for the facility.
Lindsey was repeatedly reminded to wear her PPE and ultimately quit, without notice, in May after objecting to the rule. Lindsey later applied for and received unemployment benefits, and collected $4,849 in payments until Luther Manor appealed the decision, according to the report.
The judge ruled that Lindsey wasn’t entitled to receive any unemployment benefits since she quit over not wanting to wear PPE. The ruling comes around the same time that an assisted living worker, who walked off the job in fear of contracting COVID-19, successfully appealed a decision that denied her unemployment benefits.
“[Lindsey] worked directly with a vulnerable population who was at high risk if exposed to COVID-19. The employer was required to have its employees wear PPE, or risk being fined by the governing agency,” Beckham ruled.
Lindsey won’t have to repay the $4,849 in aid she received since those payments weren’t challenged by the facility. Luther Manor also won’t be charged for those payments either “because the employer didn’t receive proper notice from the state about that hearing,” according to the report. The money will instead be absorbed by the state’s unemployment fund.
