Ex-CVH doctor fined over ethics violation

HARTFORD >> A former psychiatrist at Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown has been fined for using state equipment to do paperwork for his private practice while on the clock.

Leonard Lev, of Glastonbury, has paid a $3,500 fine for violating the state Code of the Ethics, the Office of State Ethics said Friday in a press release.

“State employees, who turn their offices into private, for-profit businesses will face significant penalties,” OSE Executive Director Carol Carson said in the release. “The Code of Ethics is clear that while state employees may have other jobs, their state jobs must come first. Preserving the independence of a state employee’s judgment is not just part of the law, it is critical to maintaining the integrity of the public workforce.” While working as a state employee, Lev owned

a private company providing psychiatric services for private patients who were unrelated to his state work.

But from December 2014 through December 2015, Lev used his state-issued computers and other equipment to process administrative paperwork for his business while he was at work at the CVH.

That violated a state code that forbids state officials and employees from using state resources to obtain personal financial gain.

Lev is no longer a state employee. The OSE said he lost his job through “a separate but related personnel action.”