Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa)
A city worker who was fired for falsifying water-safety data has been denied unemployment benefits.
State records indicate Joseph W. Miller began working for the City of Grand Mound’s public works department in January 2023 and was fired in October 2024.
Miller subsequently applied for unemployment benefits, which led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Carly Smith.
According to Smith’s findings, Miller was trained by the city to assist with the collection of daily water samples from Grand Mound’s water-treatment facility. Test results of those samples are passed on to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which has the power to penalize cities for falsified results.
Smith’s findings indicate that on Oct. 15 and 16, the city’s public works supervisor Nick Lange, was out of town attending a class. Lange had instructed Miller to conduct the water tests in his absence. When Lange returned from his trip, he reviewed surveillance-camera video to confirm the tests were made and allegedly saw that Miller had not run the tests as instructed and had instead written down random numbers in the log, falsifying the data.
After initially claiming he had run the tests as instructed, Miller allegedly admitted he had not performed the testing, couldn’t determine how to do it, and then falsified the data “because he did not want to be called dumb by Mr. Lange,” Smith stated in her ruling denying Miller’s request for unemployment benefits.
In her ruling, Smith noted that “falsifying the water test potentially put the citizens that use the city’s water at risk if the manganese levels were, in fact, too high and nothing was done to correct them.”
Other Iowans whose unemployment claims recently went before a judge include:
Airanisha Overstreet, who worked for the City of Eldridge as a billing clerk from June 2024 through the middle of October 2024 when she was fired. According to testimony given by the city clerk and city administrator at Overstreet’s Jan. 6 unemployment hearing, during Overstreet’s employment the city staff grew concerned with her background and competence. They then determined that while Overstreet had claimed in her job application to be in the process of obtaining her credentials in accounting, she had lied on her application and had, in fact, failed her accounting classes and left school two and a half years before being hired as the city’s billing clerk. She was recently denied unemployment benefits and ordered to repay the $1,296 in benefits already collected.
Robert S. Hoffman, who worked for the Council Bluffs Convention and Visitors Bureau from October 2020 through the first week of November 2024, when he was fired. On Nov. 7, 2024, Hoffman was allegedly called into a meeting with bureau’s executive director, Mark Eckman, and the bureau’s accountant. At the outset of the meeting, Eckman allegedly told Hoffman he was being fired and provided no specific reason for the decision.
Eckman then allowed Hoffman to submit a written resignation in lieu of being fired, then escorted Hoffman to his office to pack up his personal belongings, then escorted him out of the building. After the bureau opted not to participate in Hoffman’s unemployment hearing and provided no rationale for its decision, Hoffman was awarded unemployment benefits. When contacted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch on Thursday, Eckman declined to comment on the reason for Hoffman’s departure.
Michael R. Hotman, who worked for Polk County as a full-time electrician from July 2023 through November 2024 when he was fired. On Nov. 4, 2024, the county initiated an investigation into a physical altercation that involved Hotman and a coworker, David Crawford. According to testimony provided at Hotman’s unemployment hearing, the two men were in a breakroom located near the county jail when they began discussing politics. The conversation quickly led to an exchange of profanities and insults, with Crawford allegedly calling Hotman a number of homophobic slurs, and Hotman calling Crawford a “fat a–.” Crawford allegedly moved toward Hotman and bumped his chest in an aggressive manner, after which Hotman suggested they continue the fight after work.
After Hotman sat down at the breakroom table, Crawford allegedly tipped over the table and grabbed Hotman from behind, then punched him on the back of the head and the jaw several times. At that point, staff from the jail intervened and broke up the fight. A few days later, the county fired both workers. In denying Hotman’s subsequent request for unemployment benefits, Administrative Law Judge Sean Nelson described the case as “a cautionary tale about insulting words and ambiguous threats escalating into physical violence. An employee who stokes the flames of fury does not collect benefits resulting from a discharge caused by that same fight.”
David Crawford, who worked for Polk County from February 2014 through November 2024 when he was fired for his role in the fight with Michael R. Hotman. According to the testimony given in Crawford’s case, Crawford stood up to leave the breakroom at some point and Hotman shoved him to the floor and then blocked his exit. Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Adkisson recently denied Crawford’s request for unemployment benefits. She concluded that while Crawford had “only touched Mr. Hotman to get away to avoid further violence from Mr. Hotman,” he later lied to management in stating the altercation hadn’t been physical.
Brandon Ford, who worked for the Collegiate Hotel Group as a full-time maintenance technician from July 2022 through the middle of October 2024, when he was fired for workplace harassment. The company alleged that five of Ford’s co-workers complained that Ford regularly made inappropriate remarks of a sexual nature to female employees, commenting on their bodies and calling them “beautiful” and “sexy.”
One employee reported an incident in which Ford allegedly made a lewd gesture while holding a cucumber, asking a colleague, “How would you like to unwrap my cucumber?” Ford denied making the comments but acknowledged he could be “too friendly with others,” according to state records. He was denied unemployment benefits and ordered to repay $3,512 in benefits already collected.
Cynthia Young, who worked as a certified nursing assistant for Care Initiatives, a nursing home chain based in West Des Moines, from March 2023 through October 2024, when she was fired. On Oct. 21, 2024, Young was allegedly working in one of the company’s care facilities during a 12-hour overnight shift. She clocked out for a break at 3:54 a.m. and then sat in a chair to take a nap – during which, residents’ call-lights were triggered.
Young continued to sleep as a coworker took a photo of her with the call-lights going unanswered, according to state records. She was later fired for sleeping on the job. Administrative Law Judge Alexis Rowe awarded Young unemployment benefits, noting that Care Initiatives’ written policies do not prohibit employees from sleeping during authorized work breaks.