Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa)
An Iowa judge has ruled against a company that fired a restaurant worker for using profanity in violation of a corporate policy entitled “Don’t act like an —hole.”
State records show that Bridget Mays of Waterloo worked as a dishwasher for Thrive Together, a corporation that manages a variety of restaurants nationally, including Applebee’s Grill & Bar. Mays worked at the Applebee’s in Waterloo from October 2021 through July of this year, when she was fired.
Thrive Together alleged Mays had reacted angrily and used a profane word when she arrived for work one day and found dirty dishes stacked in the kitchen, including some that were left on the floor. Mays was fired a few days later, with the company claiming she had violated a formal, written policy entitled, “Don’t act like an —hole,” with the descriptive word written in full.
The policy itself used the word 11 times to describe prohibited workplace behavior, according to state records.
Mays subsequently filed a claim for unemployment benefits, which was challenged by Thrive Together. That led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge David Steen, who ruled in Mays’ favor, citing the company’s own language in its policy.
“The employer discharged (Mays) for her tone and use of profanity,” Steen noted. “The employer’s own work rules, including one of those cited as potentially violated in this situation, contain numerous instances of a word generally considered profane in the English language. This administrative law judge does not find credible the employer’s testimony that the claimant’s tone and language caused a hostile environment for her co-workers.”
Other Iowans whose unemployment cases were recently decided by a judge include:
— Angela Schumacher, who worked for Webster County as a full-time home health care aide until she was fired in June for charting that she had provided home care to a client who was actually hospitalized at the time. An administrative law judge ruled Schumacher was entitled to benefits, having experienced an “isolated incident of poor judgment.” More recently, the state’s Employment Appeal Board reversed that decision and said that had the county not caught the falsification of records it could have been exposed to allegations of fraud.
— Emilio Buhr, who worked briefly at Dan Deery Motors of Waterloo from June 10 until he resigned on June 29, citing harassment. According to the findings of the judge in his unemployment case, the employer’s computers contained lewd and inappropriate content, including informational tabs given suggestive names such as, “Sex Time,” “Seven Day Orgy,” “Flexible Penis,” and other specific terms of a much more graphic nature. The informational tabs were used to segregate tasks or data that workers accessed routinely to clock in, schedule work hours or order parts. In addition, workers were allowed to upload to the time-clock program personal photos, and some employees had uploaded pornographic or lewd images – including one depicting what Buhr described as Jesus performing a simulated sex act.
“Buhr’s decision to sever his employment relationship due to a work environment infected with sexual harassment is undoubtedly a good-cause reason to quit,” Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Johnson ruled, adding that management was aware of the content on the work computer, aware that Buhr found it objectionable, and did nothing to did nothing to correct the situation.
— Malorie Hallock, who worked for Youth and Shelter Services as a full-time administrative specialist until she was fired in July after her conviction on a charge of felony first-degree theft in an embezzlement case tied to her past employment at Studio 65 Tattoos in Clear Lake, where she was accused of stealing $123,665 in cash over a period of 10 months. The judge in Hallock’s unemployment case ruled in her favor, noting that when Youth and Shelter Services hired her it knew of the then-pending criminal charge and that she might later be convicted. Hallock was awarded unemployment benefits, with the judge stating that the shelter “could have chosen not to hire” her, and that Hallock had committed “no acts of misconduct” while working for the shelter.