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Benefits August 25, 2011
Dumpster-Diving Employee Can't Get Unemployment
August 25, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that a former Casey’s General Stores employee is not eligible for unemployment benefits because she was fired for taking soup from a dumpster.
Reported by Tara Cantore
The Associated Press reports that Pamela Tompkins-Kutcher removed the soup from the Iowa convenience store’s dumpster in 2009, saying she planned to take it home to feed it to her dog. Tompkins-Kutcher was fired for the incident and subsequently filed for unemployment benefits.
Casey’s does not allow employees to take anything from its stores without paying for it, and it successfully appealed Tompkins-Kutcher’s unemployment claim.
The AP notes, an employee in Iowa is not eligible for unemployment benefits if the agency finds the employee was terminated for misconduct.