Judge: Iowa woman stole from and abused her disabled clients
Iowa Workforce Development manages unemployment claims filed on behalf of Iowans. (Photo by Getty Images, logo courtesy the State of Iowa)
A worker at a Davenport home for people with disabilities cannot collect jobless benefits after being fired for abusing and stealing from the home’s residents, a judge has ruled.
State records indicate Tavita Smith-Williams, 56, of Bettendorf, was employed by REM Iowa Community Services of Davenport as a full-time direct support professional from 2020 until she was fired on March 11, 2024. As part of her job, Smith-Williams worked three 13-hour shifts per week in a small, residential group home in Davenport, assisting three adult women with disabilities.
At a recent state hearing, REM managers alleged that in February 2024, one of the three resident clients complained that Smith-Williams had been hostile and had yelled at her; had called her a lesbian for occasionally sleeping in the room of another resident; had been unable at times to assist her with medications; was taking baths in the home; and was walking around the home in her bra and underwear.
The resident also alleged Smith-Williams had been cooking and eating the residents’ food without their permission and was occasionally on her phone and swerving through traffic while driving the residents on errands.
In addition, Smith-Williams had allegedly used a resident’s food-stamp benefits to purchase items for herself and was having her personal mail delivered to the home while instructing the residents to watch for the deliveries.
The two other residents of the home allegedly corroborated the complainant’s version of events, saying Smith-Williams was hostile, verbally abusive and had used the residents’ money to purchase a phone charger for her own use. They also alleged there was some sort of transfer of funds between one resident and Smith-Williams in connection with a gasoline purchase, and said Smith-Williams was keeping a basket of her own clothes inside a closet at the home.
When interviewed by REM management, Smith-Wiliams allegedly denied many, but not all, of the allegations, saying she was having her mail delivered to the home because she was in the process of moving. She denied being hostile, but reportedly confirmed using a resident’s money to purchase a phone charger. She allegedly confirmed she had used a resident’s money to purchase food for herself, but asserted she had repaid the resident for the expense.
REM fired Smith-Williams, citing dependent-adult abuse laws that pertain to financial exploitation and verbal abuse.
Smith-Williams subsequently collected $4,074 in unemployment benefits. REM appealed the decision to pay benefits, which led to a hearing before Administrative Law Judge James Timberland. The judge recently ruled that Smith-Williams was ineligible for jobless benefits and ordered her to repay what she had already collected.
“The weight of the evidence establishes that (Smith-Williams) knowingly violated several reasonable and uniformly enforced employer policies,” Timberland ruled. “These include stealing food, money, and supplemental food benefits from the clients (and) verbally abusing one or more of the clients in her care.”
Smith-Williams could not be reached for comment. Court records indicate no criminal charges have been filed in the case.
In 2015, prior to working for REM, Smith-Williams was convicted of theft for stealing $579 worth of merchandise from a JC Penney store.
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