Caregiver accused of sexual impropriety is denied jobless benefits

Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa)

A residential caregiver fired for allegedly making sexual comments and touching a resident’s genitals is not entitled to jobless benefits, an Iowa judge has ruled.

According to state records, Mandi Mahedy worked for six weeks as a full-time treatment specialist at Community & Family Resources in Des Moines, from March of this year through May when she was fired.

According to the company, several residents of the Des Moines facility had complained that Mahedy had been speaking loudly about a sexually explicit subject. A few days later, a resident was upset and complained that Mahedy had been following him around and yelling at him, and that she kept massaging his arm and commenting on his muscles.

The resident also claimed Mahedy had previously made inappropriate sexual remarks to him and on one occasion had touched his genitals, the company alleged.

The next day, Mahedy’s supervisor spoke with two other residents who allegedly confirmed Mahedy had touched the complaining resident in an inappropriate manner and had made unwelcome sexual remarks.

Mahedy was fired and was subsequently awarded unemployment benefits.  Community & Family Resources appealed that decision which led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge Patrick Thomas.

Mahedy was recently ruled ineligible for benefits, with Thomas finding that she had shown “an intentional and substantial disregard for the emotional wellbeing of the resident and of the employer’s interests.”

Thomas ordered Mahedy to repay the $2,416 in benefits already collected. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was unable to reach Mahedy for comment.

Other Iowans whose unemployment cases recently went to a public hearing include:

— Denise Forsyth , who worked as a full-time paraeducator for the Davenport Community School District from 2012 until she was fired in April of this year.

According to the district, a school principal gave Forsyth a written warning in April 2023 for using her cell phone at work in violation of district policies. After she was seen continuing to use her cell phone at work, the principal placed Forsyth on a performance improvement plan.

In May 2023 and again in November 2023, the school principal observed Forsyth continuing to use her cell phone at work. In the latter instance, Forsyth was reportedly also doing embroidery in a classroom during the time she was supposed to be helping a student.

In March of this year, the principal again met with Forsyth over her continued use of the cell phone in school and reminded her of the school policies prohibiting such conduct.  A few days later, the district fielded a complaint from one of Forsyth’s co-workers about the manner in which Forsyth allegedly treated a student.

The nature of the colleague’s complaint is not described in state unemployment records, but they indicate a district investigation ended with a determination that the complaint was founded. On April 10, the employer terminated Forsyth’s employment. She was subsequently denied unemployment benefits, with an administrative law judge ruling she had committed workplace misconduct.

District officials declined to identify the school where Forsyth worked, although for current employees that information is published on the district’s website.

— April Parsons , who worked for the Community Supports Network as a supervisor overseeing the care the staff delivered inside a group home for adults. On March 28, Parsons was doing bookwork at the home when a client offered her what she thought was a piece of candy but was actually a THC-infused gummy.  She disclosed the matter to a supervisor, finished her shift with no adverse effects, and left for the day.

Parsons was later fired for the denial of critical care. She was awarded jobless benefits with an administrative law judge ruling that her former employer hadn’t shown there was any misconduct in Parson unknowingly accepting a THC gummy from a client.

— Vanessa Calderon , who worked as a full-time direct support professional for REM Community Services from May 2015 until April of this year when she was fired.  She was dismissed after the company learned Calderon had been arrested and charged with theft. The criminal case was resolved with a conviction and a deferred judgment, according to state unemployment records.

Later, REM Community Services checked Iowa Courts Online and allegedly found that Calderon had been convicted of a criminal offense in 2018 and concluded that she had not reported that matter as required by company policy. After the company contested Calderon’s request for unemployment benefits, a judge ruled that Calderon had, in fact, reported the 2018 arrest but the company didn’t maintain a record of the report. Calderon was awarded jobless benefits.