Iowa nurse is fired after a patient's family calls COVID-19 a 'hoax'

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An Iowa nurse was fired from her job after arguing with a patient’s family who said COVID-19 is a “hoax.”

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Iowa nurse is fired after a patient's family calls COVID-19 a 'hoax'

Clark Kauffman Iowa Capital Dispatch

Published 2:36 p.m. CT Sep. 28, 2020 | Updated 8:41 a.m. CT Sep. 29, 2020

An Iowa nurse was fired from her job after arguing with a patient’s family who said COVID-19 is a “hoax.” ... State records indicate that in April, Lisa Dockery was fired from her job as a home-health nurse for Recover Health Services, an agency with offices throughout Iowa. For the previous eight years, Dockery worked with one patient full-time — a nonverbal boy with severe disabilities.

As part her job, Dockery assisted the boy with all activities of daily living. After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the boy’s parents allegedly told Dockery they believed the virus was a “hoax” and they refused to wear a mask around her or their son. ... Dockery told the boy’s parents their child was at risk of death if he contracted the virus because of his respiratory problems, his need to be fed by tube, and the fact that he is not ambulatory.

On April 6, Dockery and the parents became involved in an argument about COVID-19. The boy’s father asked Dockery to leave and, as a result, Recover fired Dockery. ... At her unemployment hearing, Dockery testified she had always received positive performance reviews and she had never been disciplined by her employer. She testified that she misses her job and would still be working for the family if the pandemic had not occurred.

In awarding Dockery unemployment benefits, Administrative Law Judge Heather Palmer wrote that she did not find Recover had met its burden of proving Dockery acted with negligence in violation of company policy. “Recover has failed to establish any intentional and substantial disregard of its interest that rises to the level of willful misconduct,” Palmer ruled.

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