State Panel Agrees, Dispatcher’s Firing Was Justified

An Iowa state administrative law judge has ruled that a former Cedar County sheriff’s dispatcher was properly fired for misconduct and should not receive unemployment benefits. Amy Willey, 29, was fired last year for inappropriate and sexually suggestive behavior. According to sheriff Warren Wethington, while on-duty over a two-year span, Willey made sexual comments regarding her breasts and other parts of her anatomy, telephoned a police officer to ask whether his penis was pierced, discussed sex toys, and grabbed her buttocks and breasts while at work. In the transcript of two telephone calls presented to a Workforce Development hearing judge, Willey gossiped with a city police officer and used profanities on a recorded line. When contacted by a newspaper reporter for comment, Willey claimed other dispatchers slept on-duty but were never fired. She also alleged the sheriff’s department would annually honor dispatchers who handled the most number of fatality incidents. Read more about her firing here.