An Iowa worker fired for disparaging Mexicans says she should get unemployment, arguing such talk is routine after Trump's election Minority bashing has been "common" in Fairflield plant since Trump took office, judge says

Clark Kauffman | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Iowans claim jobless benefits Nationally, almost a quarter-million people filed for unemployment benefits in July 2017. Not all of them were awarded benefits initially, but they can appeal that decision to an administrative law judge.

An Iowa woman fired for disparaging Mexicans at work cannot collect unemployment despite her testimony that other employees also made derogatory comments about "blacks and foreigners" since Donald Trump became president.

Angela Diers filed for unemployment after she lost her job at Dexter Laundry, a Fairfield manufacturer of commercial washers and dryers, for telling a co-worker that she hated "f---ing Mexicans."

Iowa's Employment Appeals Board ruled that Diers' statements clearly met the definition of misconduct and disqualified her from collecting unemployment benefits. The board reversed Administrative Law Judge Beth Scheetz, who said Diers deserved unemployment benefits.

Scheetz had ruled that "since President Trump’s election, it was common for workers" at the plant to talk of hating African Americans and foreigners. The company couldn't single out Diers for misconduct, the judge had ruled.

Diers said she would appeal the board's decision to deny her benefits, which would move the case to district court.

The First Amendment protects citizens against government-imposed restrictions on their speech, but those protections do not apply to speech in the context of working for a private company.

Private employers have also disciplined or fired workers for public comments made outside of work, including on social media posts.

The unemployment case stems from an incident that took place the morning of May 4 at the Fairfield plant.

Diers, a production worker, saw a co-worker dancing and singing Mexican songs in celebration of the coming Cinco de Mayo holiday. In response, and in front of several other employees, Diers made the comment that she hated “f---ing Mexicans.”

At her unemployment hearing, Diers testified, “It was 7 o’clock in the morning, or 6:30 in the morning, and here’s Lindsey, dancing and singing Mexican … It’s, like, ‘What are you doing?’ And then she said something about Cinco de Mayo. And that’s when I said I hated Mexicans.”

Diers testified that her co-worker said nothing in response.

“She just kind of looked at me,” Diers testified. “I go, ‘I’m sorry, Lindsey, if you don’t like what I said, but I’m not a Mexican fan.'"

Diers testified that she tried to explain that it was only “illegal Mexicans” that she disliked.

“We talk about everything out on the floor — whether it’s the president or the vice president,” Diers testified. “There has been talk on the floor: Some people don’t like blacks, certain people don’t like Mexicans, certain people don’t like foreigners. We talk, and then we just move on.”

Asked by Judge Scheetz how long that sort of conversation had gone on, Diers said it had been “mainly the last couple years” — since Trump took office.

“There was a lot of controversy out on the floor during the presidential election,” she testified.

Diers was fired a few days after making the remark.

She declined to talk to the Register about the case, and Dexter Laundry officials did not respond to requests for comment.

After Diers' unemployment hearing, Scheetz ruled in her favor, stating that Diers' conduct was not unlike other workers at the plant.

“Since President Trump’s election, it was common for workers to talk about hating blacks or hating foreigners,” Scheetz wrote in her ruling. “If management wishes all workers to be treated with respect, it must enforce respectful treatment amongst co-workers and supervisors, and apply those expectations consistently throughout the chain of command."

But the state Employment Appeals Board disagreed, saying Diers' "comments fell squarely within the type of behavior the employer’s work rules specifically prohibit. Her clarification that she only meant ‘illegal’ Mexicans does not absolve her of culpability."