The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court ruling that the Employment Appeal Board (EAB) was correct in denying a former Carroll County employee’s unemployment benefits. Rosemarie Stotts, who previously served as the county’s general assistance director and regional social worker, resigned in lieu of termination in May 2020 after an investigation determined she had acted improperly by holding $6,000 of a client’s money and releasing the funds back over several months at the client’s request. Officials also claimed misconduct through her approval of $348 in general assistance funds for the same individual while a portion of that initial cash was still available. In August 2020, an administrative law judge ruled Stotts was ineligible for unemployment benefits because Stotts’s actions would have led to her termination by the Board of Supervisors had she not resigned. The judge also ordered Stotts to repay the more than $4,000 in unemployment benefits she had received beginning May 17, 2020. Stotts appealed this decision to the district court and then to the Iowa Court of Appeals, but the denial of unemployment benefits was upheld by the appellate court this (Wednesday) morning with the lower court’s ruling to remain in effect.
