Iowa Court of Appeals Rules That a Plant Closure Can Be an Economic Change for Purposes of Review Reopening
Stuart v. Dickten Masch Plastics, LLC , No. 23-0018 (Iowa App. Oct. 25, 2023) Claimant filed a review-reopening petition after she lost her job due to a plant closure. Claimant had been "heavily" accommodated at work for her work-related disability, and was allowed to sit during the day and take breaks that were not available to other workers. She was unable to find work following the plant closure. The commissioner ruled that when a worker loses her job as a result of a plant closure, she cannot show the required economic change regardless of any other factors preventing her from finding a new job and denied relief to claimant. At hearing, claimant testified that following the plant closure, she had attempting to find work, noting that she had sent out two dozen applications and had only three responses, which were fruitless once the employers learned of her disability. Defendants presented testimony from a vocational expert regarding claimant's emp...