Employment Rights

The Iowa Capital Dispatch reported on the sad case of Kevin K. Bennet. Bennet was employed as a patient access professional for Jennie Edmundson
Memorial Hospital in Iowa. Patient access professionals guide patients through the admission process and answer any questions they may have.

Bennet was suspected to be under the influence at work on September 5th, 2023. His coworkers were concerned for his sobriety and reached out to his supervisor. During their interaction, the supervisor allegedly noticed Bennet slurring his words, having watery eyes, being unable to focus, and drifting off to sleep. His supervisor expressed concerns for Bennet and asked him to submit to a drug and alcohol test. After refusing a drug and alcohol test, an
administrator came to the supervisor’s office and stated that refusal of this test could result in termination.

Bennet then resigned from the hospital and sought unemployment benefits. At the unemployment hearing, Bennet stated that his father had recently died and that he had been drinking the night before but stopped drinking at midnight, six hours before his shift.

Administrative Law Judge Blair Bennet ruled that Kevin Bennet “offered testimony that was not believable. This may be because of his state of intoxication when he went to work. But his statement that the administrator did not ever come to the office of the supervisor indicates a person who may have blacked out while he was at work, thereby tainting or eliminating his memory of the events.”

The judge affirmed a fact-finder’s decision to deny him benefits holding the evidence was insignificant to establish that Bennet had voluntarily quit due to the hospital’s actions.