Wrongful Termination

Kandus Jellison is a certified nursing assistant. She sued her former employer for wrongful termination. The lawsuit alleges that supervisors at Oakwood Specialty Care failed to care for a resident’s wellbeing after a fall, and denied his rights to participate in his care and contact anyone he wished.

She was wrongly fired for disputing a director of nursing’s orders not to help a resident call 911. Jellison was caught between supervisor’s orders and protecting a resident’s rights.

Jellison told the Iowa Capital Dispatch that she only informed the resident of his rights and told him how to get an ambulance using a cell phone in his room.

“It’s not like I gave him a phone, or that I dialed 911 for him,” she said. “He did it himself.”

Jellison reported the incident to the Iowa Department of Inspections. They cited Oakwood for lack of nursing supervision. CMS fined the facility more than $95,000.

However, Jellison lost a contested unemployment benefits decision when a judge ruled that she contradicted facility managers when it came to a medical decision. Incredible injustice!