Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa)
A paralegal who was fired from the Adair County Attorney’s Office after her arrest on a felony gun charge is entitled to unemployment benefits, an administrative law judge has ruled.
State records indicate Donnell Marie Griffith worked for Adair County as a full-time paralegal from 2019 through early October 2024, when she was fired.
Her dismissal followed her arrest on Sept. 13, 2024, when she was charged with the felony offense of going armed with intent. According to police records, a man reported that Griffith had pointed a gun at him. When questioned, Griffith allegedly told officers she had been holding a gun when it discharged accidentally. When asked whether she had pointed the gun at the complainant, she allegedly responded, “If that would have happened, I would have just put one right between his eyes,” according to police reports.
Griffith has pleaded not guilty to the charge, and a pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2025.
At the time she was charged, Griffith informed the county attorney’s office of her arrest. A week later, county officials allegedly informed Griffith she had the option of either resigning or being fired. Griffith opted to resign and later applied for unemployment benefits, which the county challenged.
After a hearing on the matter, Administrative Law Judge Daniel Zeno ruled Griffith was entitled to jobless benefits, noting that no one from the county attorney’s office chose to participate in the hearing or offer any testimony in the matter.
“Since the employer has not established disqualifying, job-related misconduct on the part of Ms. Griffith, she is eligible for regular, state unemployment insurance benefits,” Zeno ruled.
Other Iowans whose unemployment cases were recently decided include:
— Adam J. Van Osdel, who worked for Pottawattamie Arts, Culture & Entertainment, or PACE, as the organization’s creative director from February 2020 through early September 2024 when he was fired. According to state records, Van Osdel was issued a credit card at the beginning of his employment, with the understanding that it was to be used only for business purchases. In January 2024, PACE issued Van Osdel a written reprimand for violations of the credit card policy after he was alleged to have repeatedly used the card for purchases tied to a side business he owns and operates.
At various times, Van Osdel had allegedly used the credit card to pay for advertising from Facebook and to pay for $1,209 worth of equipment rental and $336 worth of goods purchased from Home Depot. Van Osdel attributed the conduct to “a mistake” on his part and wrote checks to reimburse the organization for all purchases unrelated to PACE.
Over the next several months, Van Osdel allegedly failed to turn in numerous receipts for hundreds of dollars’ worth of additional purchases made with the credit card. In September 2024, he was fired and applied for unemployment benefits. After a hearing in the matter, Administrative Law Judge James Timberland ruled Van Osdel was not entitled to jobless benefits given the “pattern of carelessness and/or negligence” he established in failing to comply with PACE’s credit-card policies.
In his ruling, Timberland also stated that Van Osdel “minimizes and provides hollow excuses for the repeated unauthorized use of the employer’s credit card.”
— Leslie McAndrew, who worked for the University of Iowa as a pharmacy technician trainee from May 2024 through early October when she resigned, potentially in lieu of being fired. Her resignation followed a University of Iowa investigation into incidents that occurred the weekend of Sept. 28, 2024, according to state records. McAndrew, while off work, allegedly contacted a coworker more than 60 times through text messaging, and called the coworker at least once, between the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. She was also alleged to have walked from Coralville to Iowa City in the middle of the night and to have stopped at a bench outside the coworker’s home.
McAndrew cited “health and medical concerns” as reasons for her resignation, which she submitted after UI officials indicated they were “leaning toward” firing her, according to state records. She was then denied unemployment benefits with the administrative law judge in her case finding that “while her leaving was for good personal reasons, she has not established it was for a good-cause reason attributable to the employer.”