A rebuke by VA, then a promotion
After unbecoming conduct in LA, claims vs. pharmacy boss surface in Prescott
A Department of Veterans Affairs pharmacy boss who was rebuked for unbecoming conduct at the Los Angeles VA medical center now faces similar allegations at the Prescott VA hospital, where he oversees medication dispensaries.
Last year, investigators for the Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System found that Dr. Yusuf Dawoodbhai had intimidated and disrespected employees who lodged Equal Opportunity complaints, and failed to address allegations involving potentially serious patient harm.
The Republic obtained a copy of an administrative investigative report from Los Angeles, in which the names of the pharmacy director and employees were redacted. The VA declined a request to provide an unredacted copy, but acknowledged the review. It “identified the need for routine improvements in some areas, all
of the most serious allegations were not substantiated,” regional spokeswoman Jessica Jacobsen said in an email.
VA officials declined to say what disciplinary actions were taken at the time, if any, but Dawoodbhai subsequently was promoted to oversee pharmacy operations at the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System, based at the veterans hospital in Prescott.
Over the past six months, pharmacy employees there have leveled new complaints against Dawoodbhai while seeking help from the VA’s whistleblower-protection unit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Special Council.
Administrators at the medical center in Prescott, who recently completed an internal fact-finding probe of those complaints, informed employees the problem was in their heads.
A recording of their staff meeting, provided to The Arizona Republic, spells out the positions taken by Barbara Oemcke, the Health Care System director, and Dr. A. Panneer Selvam, hospital chief of staff.
The administrators stressed that allegations of harassment and a hostile work environment were not substantiated, and Dawoodbhai’s behavior had been misconstrued by employees.
They conceded the pharmacy environment is not “psychologically safe,” and as a result there had been breakdowns in communication.
“There’s a difference between fact and perception,” said Oemcke. “There are all sorts of misunderstandings of intent that can happen.”
Selvam advised staffers that Dawoodbhai would be given executive coaching while employees could attend listening sessions to achieve positive, non-punitive improvements in the pharmacy department.
Daniel Maharaj, an attorney for some of the complainants, said the staff meeting itself was psychologically unsafe because Dawoodbhai attended even though reprisal had been a grievance.
Under the circumstances, “It is hard to imagine that … employees who reported Dr. Dawoodbhai for various forms of harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation … would feel comfortable discussing their dissatisfaction openly,” Maharaj said in an email.
“People were scared for their jobs,” said Michele Katenay, an administrative officer who quit her VA job last month. “It was insane.”
Even before the fact-finding, VA officials had discounted criticisms of Dawoodbhai. In a March email to The Republic, regional spokeswoman Jessica Jacobsen wrote that the pharmacy chief has demonstrated “outstanding service and leadership throughout his VA career.
“He has instituted key reforms at VA pharmacies … when they needed it most, resulting in better service to Veterans and better value to taxpayers,” Jacobsen added. “Dawoodbhai was thoroughly vetted for his current position and has the full confidence and support of the Prescott VAMC leadership team. Just because an EEO claim or lawsuit has been filed does not mean it has merit, and VA will address any such matters in the appropriate venues.”
In a more recent message, Jacobsen said the VA has taken appropriate action in response to employee complaints. She said Dawoodbhai has strengthened the Prescott VA pharmacy, adding staff and equipment while raising patient satisfaction scores.
“The bottom line is that at VA, patient safety and service to veterans comes first in all that we do,” she added, “and we make no apology for that.”
Dawoodbhai did not respond to interview requests submitted via email and through Jacobsen.
Politics behind the scenes
The controversy in Prescott echoes controversy two years ago at the VA’s Greater Los Angeles Medical Center where a staffer accused Dawoodbhai of sexual harassment and sought a restraining order after telling police she feared for her life.
Dawoodbhai had been transferred from the Portland VA hospital to Los Angeles in 2017 to replace Jeffrey Sayers, a longtime pharmacy chief who was fired for alleged management failures.
Sayers’ termination was lauded by conservative media as an example of President Trump fulfilling promises to oust bad leaders through the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. But Sayers’ attorneys, Maharaj and Natalie Khawam, argue that their client was a victim of reprisal after 37 years of excellent federal service with no prior disciplinary history. They contend Sayers was made a scapegoat for systemic failures.
An administrative judge for the Merit Systems Protection Board rejected Sayers’ arguments. A subsequent appeal to the federal circuit court is pending.
Amid the litigation, Khawam pressed Congress to revise the federal statute. In a letter to Rep. Mark Takano, D-California, who chairs the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, she said VA administrators have subverted the law’s purpose, using it “as a license to make contemptible, unsupported decisions.
“In practice,” Khawam wrote, “the Act has been used to remove anyone that falls out of favor with leadership and, most alarmingly, to specifically target high-performing VA employees that have EEOC and/or whistleblower complaints or concerns.”
Fears for safety
“He has instituted key reforms at VA pharmacies … when they needed it most, resulting in better service to Veterans and better value to taxpayers. Dawoodbhai was thoroughly vetted for his current position and has the full confidence and support of the Prescott VAMC leadership team. Just because an EEO claim or lawsuit has been filed does not mean it has merit, and VA will address any such matters in the appropriate venues.” Jessica Jacobsen
Regional spokeswoman, Veterans Affairs
Amid Sayers’ termination proceedings, Dawoodbhai became acting pharmacy chief for the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System.
Court records, VA investigative files, and other government documents show Dawoodbhai got crosswise with multiple employees, some of whom had been close to Sayers.
Elizabeth Luevano, then administrative officer for pharmacy services at the Los Angeles hospital, alleged that Dawoodbhai repeatedly leered at her breasts, even after being asked to stop. She also complained that he berated her with threatening comments and
intimidating gestures.
After Los Angeles executives failed to resolve the problem, Luevano said, she filed complaints with the EEOC, Office of Inspector General, and Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. She alleged that Dawoodbhai retaliated, assigning her to a warehouse job and moving to fire her.
Luevano said conditions grew so stressful she requested VA police escorts from her car to her office. After one incident, she filed a police report saying she feared for her life because of Dawoobhai’s “furious and threatening” demeanor.
“I not only fear for my safety,” she wrote in the report, “but also the safety of coworkers and veterans …”
In December 2017, Luevano sought a civil protective order against Dawoodbhai. Santa Monica court records show that request was denied after a VA attorney intervened, asserting that the dispute was a federal administrative matter.
Luevano then turned to members of Congress, including the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, prompting an administrative investigation.
Luevano wasn’t the only employee to raise concerns about Dawoodbhai. Dr. Debbie Tao, an outpatient pharmacy program manager and a 30-year VA employee, said she’s been yelled at and suspended amid complaints against Dawoodbhai with the EEOC, the VA whistleblower protection office, and the Office of Special Counsel.
According to agency records, an administrative investigation of Dawoodbhai concluded that he had berated an employee with intimidating gestures. It also ruled he failed to uphold core values by ignoring a warning about “serious potential harm” to patients, and interfered with a staffer’s rights by confronting her about an EEOC complaint.
However, investigators did not substantiate allegations of sexual harassment or a hostile work environment. They asserted that Dawoodbhai’s “rude” communication style simply had been misunderstood — the same finding Arizona officials would make two years later.
The fact finders recommended “appropriate administrative action” and leadership training for Dawoodbhai.
VA officials, citing privacy rights, declined to say what actions were taken, if any.
Transfer and promotion
Dawoodbhai was transferred to the Northern Arizona VA Health Care System in June of 2018 as chief of pharmacy.
Four months later, he became permanent chief.
Staffers soon began asking administrators for help. According to Maharaj, at least 16 employees in Los Angeles and Prescott have filed complaints of various kinds regarding Dawoodbhai’s leadership.
A pharmacy specialist sought help from the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. In a February email to investigators, she described Dawoodbhai as a “dismissive, rude and belittling” leader who creates “hostile and harassing work conditions.”
The specialist said veteran wait times for prescriptions increased, staff morale plummeted.
She added that a 38-year employee with an impeccable record was hospitalized for chest pains after rebukes from Dawoodbhai.
She and others asserted that, after arriving in Prescott, Dawoodbhai missed long periods of work and commuted from Portland, where his wife is listed as a VA human resources manager handling executive leadership and performance.
“Not only was no action taken in Los Angeles,” the pharmacy specialist wrote, “it appears he was actually rewarded by being given a position of authority over an entire (pharmacy) department.”
Katenay, a disabled combat veteran who works directly for Dawoodbhai, said he hasn’t spoken with her in months — since she began filing complaints.
The friction began, she said, when Dawoodbhai instructed her to credit pharmacy employees with overtime that she believed was improper.
Since then, she said, she’s been set up for failure with impossible assignments and nasty emails, and accused of insubordination.
In an interview, Katenay said she was dedicated to helping veterans, but the anxiety and pressure forced her to leave the VA for another federal job.
“I’m a single mom with two children, and it’s hard to be strong,” she added.
“They have to see first hand what I go through … He’s destroying lives whether he knows it or not … When is it going to stop?”