Nursing home director fired for allegedly forging resident’s signature on records

By: Clark Kauffman

An Iowa nursing home director was fired earlier this year after allegedly admitting she forged a resident’s signature on admission documents.

According to state records, Genevieve Dowding was employed earlier this year as the social services director for Harmony Dubuque, a nursing home run by Legacy Healthcare Financial Services.

She was fired in April 2025 when her employer concluded she had violated rules prohibiting the falsification of documents, according to the records.

According to the recent findings of an administrative law judge, a resident was admitted to the facility on April 18, 2025, and Dowding was tasked with obtaining the resident’s signatures on all of the documents related to the admission. After Dowding notified the home’s administrator, Cassandra Wood, that the documents were signed and completed, Wood allegedly reviewed the documents and saw the resident’s electronic signature had been added to the documents at 3:07 p.m., 3:10 p.m., 3:14 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 5:12 p.m.

Suspecting that Dowding was in her office at those times and that the resident was not present, Wood reviewed surveillance camera footage and allegedly confirmed Dowding had been alone in her office when the signatures were collected.

When Wood inquired about the matter, Dowding allegedly admitted that she had forged the resident’s signatures and offered no explanation for her conduct. The facility fired Dowding, after which she collected $3,516 in unemployment benefits. Legacy Healthcare Financial Services objected, and the matter went to a hearing before an administrative law judge.

The judge, Elizabeth Johnson, ruled recently that Dowding is not entitled to unemployment benefits, finding there was credible testimony that Dowding falsified the signatures on admission paperwork.

Dowding “knew the consequences for falsification were severe, and she offered the employer no explanation for this action,” Johnson ruled, adding that Dowding’s actions “were willful and in deliberate disregard of the employer’s interests.” 

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Nursing home director fired for allegedly forging resident’s signature on records