Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa)
A public-hospital employee from central Iowa has been fired after being accused of flipping off and “deadnaming” a transgender patient.
State records indicate Tanya Y. Daniels was working as a patient-access representative at Des Moines’ Broadlawns Medical Center on Sept. 23, 2024, when a clinic manager fielded a complaint from a transgender patient.
According to testimony by hospital officials at a recent hearing, the patient alleged that while Daniels was checking her in for an appointment at Broadlawns, Daniels repeatedly used the wrong pronouns and referred to the patient by her previous name — a practice typically described as “deadnaming.” Hospital officials testified the patient reported that she repeatedly told Daniels her correct name and preferred pronouns, but Daniels continued to misidentify the patient by name and gender.
The patient eventually became upset and sought help from another employee, at which point the patient looked back and allegedly saw Daniels “flip her off” by gesturing toward her with an upraised middle finger, hospital officials testified.
State records indicate the hospital’s clinic manager, Krissy Harlow, informed Daniels of the complaint and asked her what had transpired. According to the hospital, Daniels told Harlow the patient had been mumbling, was difficult to hear, and that the patient’s behavior was “p—ing her off.” Daniels allegedly acknowledged using the patient’s previous name and incorrect pronouns, stating, “I don’t know what to call those people.”
Daniels also is alleged to have told Harlow she did, in fact, flip off the patient but argued she didn’t think there was any way the patient could have seen her do it.
A human resources representative at Broadlawns then reviewed surveillance footage of the incident, which allegedly showed Daniels flipping off the patient off in a manner the patient could see.
On Sept. 25, 2024, Broadlawns fired Daniels for violating the organization’s code-of-conduct policies. She had worked for the hospital since November 2021.
Daniels subsequently filed for unemployment insurance and collected $1,812 in benefits before the case went before Administrative Law Judge Patrick B. Thomas. After a hearing on the matter, Thomas ruled Daniels was not entitled to unemployment benefits due to workplace misconduct.
Thomas ruled Daniels had “intentionally, repeatedly misgendered a patient who was checking in for an appointment. Moreover, when the patient became upset with (Daniels) and sought help from another employee, (Daniels) made an offensive gesture directed at the patient which was visible to the patient.”
Thomas found that Daniels’ “conduct in this instance was an intentional and substantial disregard for the emotional wellbeing of the patient and of the employer’s interests,” which disqualified her from collecting unemployment benefits.
Because Broadlawns did not participate in the initial fact-finding hearing related to Daniels’ unemployment claim, Daniels will not be required to pay back the benefits already collected, Thomas ruled.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Daniels for comment.