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Paramedic fired after testing positive for drug use is awarded jobless benefits

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May 27th, 2025 by Ric Hanson

(Iowa Capital Dispatch)  – A Jefferson County paramedic who was fired after testing positive for drug use is entitled to unemployment benefits, a judge has ruled. State records indicate Jesse Husmann began working for Jefferson County as a full-time paramedic in October 2023. On Feb. 17, 2025, a hospital emergency room nurse allegedly reported to Ambulance Service Director Josh Hemminger that Husmann’s behavior that day was unusual. Hemminger then spoke to one of Husmann’s co-workers about her behavior, and the co-worker allegedly reported Husmann seemed confused and didn’t know where certain things were located in the emergency room even though she frequently worked there, according to the records. The co-worker also is alleged to have reported that Husmann didn’t know how to get to the hospital, couldn’t sit still and had walked into a wall.

Hemminger then spoke with Husmann and allegedly observed that she could not sit still, and asked that she submit to drug test, the records show. Husmann agreed to do so and was allowed to drive herself to the testing site and then return to work. The next day, she was placed on paid administrative leave until the test results were produced. On March 5, the lab allegedly faxed Hemminger the test results showing Husmann had tested positive for marijuana and amphetamines and that Husmann had not provided any information to explain the results. Husmann allegedly told Hemminger she was using marijuana to address a non-work injury and that she was taking a prescription medicine that would show up as amphetamines on a drug test, state records show. Husmann was immediately fired. She later applied for unemployment benefits, which led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Daniel Zeno.

Zeno recently ruled in Husmann’s favor and awarded her unemployment benefits, noting that Jefferson County “did not notify Ms. Husmann of the test results by certified mail return receipt” before firing her. As a result, Zeno found, the county could not use the results of the drug test as a basis for challenging her application for jobless benefits.

Other Iowans fired for alleged workplace misconduct

Other Iowans whose unemployment cases were recently heard by an administrative law judge include:

— Sara Bergeson, who began working for the Ames Community School District in August 2022 as a full-time educational associate and was fired on April 4, 2025. Bergeson typically took her daily 30-minute, unpaid lunch breaks inside a classroom where she would sit at a table, set an alarm for the end of her break, and listen to music or sleep. On April 2, an employee sent district officials two photos of Bergeson showing her sitting in a chair in the classroom with her arms crossed, head back, leg propped on a table and eyes closed.

She was subsequently fired for sleeping on the job, with the district noting that she had been “written up” for sleeping on the job in April 2024. Administrative Law Judge Daniel Zeno ruled recently that Bergeson is entitled to jobless benefits, finding that even if one were to assume that Bergeson was sleeping when photographed, she was on an unpaid break at the time. “It is not misconduct for an employee to sleep during a break in a place where the employer authorizes an employee to take breaks,” Zeno ruled.

— Justin J. Haubrich, who began working for the Omara Law Office in February 2024 as a full-time paralegal and was fired in October 2024. The law office alleged Haubrich had been performing below expectations, had been insubordinate, and had become upset, slammed doors and used profanity in speaking to colleagues in the office.  At some point, the law office discovered Haubrich had been accessing, from his home, the employer’s security-camera system to watch two female colleagues at work.

When the employer confronted Haubrich, he allegedly admitted to the behavior, according to state records. In a subsequent meeting with partners of the law firm, Haubrich allegedly became upset and began yelling and arguing before telling one partner to “f— off” and leaving the building. He was fired that same day and subsequently collected $602 in jobless benefits. An administrative law judge ruled recently that Haubrich is not entitled to benefits and that he must repay the $602.

— Jordan S. Bates, who worked as a full-time care aide for Immanuel Pathways, a care program for the elderly, from March 2023 until she was fired in March 2025. Her dismissal was based on a finding that Bates had worked outside of the scope of her professional duties when she made a report to an animal-rescue agency regarding the welfare of animals living in the home of a client and the unsanitary conditions the client faced due to the amount of animal feces inside the home.

Bates made the complaint after a superior asked her to consult with an Iowa Department of Health and Human Services worker who, in turn, directed Bates to make the animal-welfare report. She was subsequently awarded unemployment benefits, with an administrative law judge ruling she had not committed any form of workplace misconduct.