(Stuart, Iowa; Iowa Capital Dispatch) – For several months in 2023, an Iowa nursing home employed an aide with a history of theft, and a hospice program employed a caregiver on a registry of known abusers. The Iowa Capital Dispatch says State records indicate that in March 2022, Community Care Center of Stuart hired Justin Harlan to work in the facility as a dietary aide. In November 2023, the nursing home learned from local police that Harlan had outstanding warrants for his arrest due to alleged probation violations in the state of Arkansas.

The home’s management then contacted Arkansas authorities and allegedly learned that in 2018, Harlan had been convicted of felony theft by receipt of $25,000 or more, and that in 2022, after starting work at the Stuart facility, he had pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance. Harlan was fired a short time later, with the company stating that because of his criminal record, state regulations barred him from working in an Iowa nursing home.

An administrative law judge recently presided over a hearing on Harlan’s application for unemployment benefits. The judge found that at the time of his hiring, Harlan had informed the care facility of his 2018 conviction. On the form where he was to provide specifics of the crimes, Harlan wrote “theft by receiving” but did not provide the location or date of conviction, and his application made no mention of having lived in Arkansas. The employer ran a background check at the time, but only for criminal charges initiated in Iowa, and so the check showed no criminal history and Harlan was hired, Administrative Law Judge Stephanie Adkisson found.

Adkisson ruled recently that Harlan is entitled to unemployment benefits, noting that at the time of his hiring he had disclosed his one criminal conviction and “had made no attempt to hide his criminal background.” The home, Adkisson found, “did not follow up with (Harlan) to gather additional information relating to his criminal history, despite his disclosure of a conviction on the application.”

Five other Iowa health care workers had their unemployment cases held recently before a judge. An administrative law judge recently awarded benefits to a fired caregiver who had been working in hospice care while on a state registry of abusers. The four other workers’ unemployment claims were denied by a judge.