Vets-home chief’s firing stands
In appeal, state fiscal officer reverses reinstatement
The director of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration on Thursday upheld the firing of former Little Rock Veterans Home administrator Janet Levine, ending the state appeal process.
Richard Weiss wrote in Thursday’s order that Levine’s actions as administrator “show a continuous pattern of unacceptable conduct for an employee in a managerial position.”
As Arkansas’ chief fiscal officer, Weiss’ order reverses the recommendation by the State Employee Grievance Appeal Panel last month that called for Levine’s reinstatement as administrator with back pay and benefits.
Weiss’ ruling marks the end of the state employee appeal process. David Sterling, Levine’s attorney, confirmed Thursday evening that he intends to take the case to court.
Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs Director Cissy Rucker, whose agency oversees the state’s two veterans homes, said Thursday that “we feel like we did the
right thing” in challenging the grievance panel’s order that would have reinstated Levine.
Levine’s performance as administrator “showed a pattern of mismanagement,” Rucker added.
In an e-mailed statement Thursday, Levine’s lawyer challenged that assessment and expressed disappointment with Weiss’ decision.
Sterling described Weiss’ order as a “cursory, incomplete, and inaccurate treatment of the facts, testimony and evidence presented to and considered by the members of the SEGAP panel before making their unanimous decision.”
“Over the last several months, the Department of Veterans Affairs, through its agents and directors, have attempted to ruin Ms. Levine’s reputation in an effort to sweep her wrongful termination under the rug,” the attorney added.
Levine was fired April 26 by Dave Fletcher, former director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, after his own investigation into an anonymous letter that contained 25 complaints against her.
The investigation’s findings centered on whether Levine was responsible for the illegal collection of almost $600,000 in fees from the Little Rock Veterans Home’s most disabled and war-wounded veterans since 2009.
That allegation became the crux of every step in the appeal process, including Thursday’s decision that her firing was warranted.
The continued collection of those fees violated a 2009 change in federal law that increased the monthly amount the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays state-run veterans homes for the care of veterans who are at least 70 percent disabled. The law prohibits the collection of any out-of-pocket fees from those veterans for care.
Weiss’ order says the state presented evidence that Levine had been trained on the law change, but “did not correct the situation at the home to ensure that the home was not still improperly collecting maintenance fees from the veteran residence.”
That, coupled with a prior disciplinary action against Levine for using a state vehicle for private use, was the basis for Weiss’ decision.
Sterling reiterated Thursday that Levine was not responsible for the fee collection and placed the blame on the former director of veterans affairs.
Fletcher was asked to retire by Gov. Mike Beebe in May, a month after Levine was fired, when e-mails and congressional testimony surfaced indicating that Fletcher also knew about change in the law but allowed the illegal fee collection to continue.
After Rucker replaced Fletcher, she upheld Levine’s termination.
The State Employee Grievance Appeal Panel reviewed the case during a day-long hearing and reversed Levine’s dismissal, calling for her reinstatment with back pay.
The panel ruled that although the record showed Levine “did not perform well as Administrator, the cause of the poor performance could be correlated to the ignorance and lack of leadership of the Director [Fletcher] and Deputy Director [Lawrence Pickard].”
Rucker fired Pickard in May during her first week as director after e-mails surfaced showing that he knew the fees collected at the Little Rock Veterans Home violated federal law.
Sterling asserted Thursday that Levine was never trained about the law change.
“The fees were collected by the Finance Officer, Tracy Pearsall, at the Director’s office where Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Pickard carefully tracked their collection on a spreadsheet they prepared,” Sterling said via e-mail Thursday. “Ms. Levine never touched the fees or had anything to do with their collection.”