The Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) upheld the firing of former Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care Director Sharon Helman in a decision handed down Dec. 22. However, while the administrative judge did not sustain Helman's appeal, he also did not find enough evidence to link her to record tampering, delayed care for veterans or retaliation against whistleblowers.
Previously: VA fires official at heart of falsified wait list scandal
Instead, the judge upheld Helman's removal on grounds that she accepted gifts from lobbyist and former VA administrator Dennis Lewis. The gifts cited include airline tickets, event admissions, tours and, in one instance, Beyoncé tickets.
"I find it difficult to believe that she accepted over $13,000 in gifts from Lewis over a two year period... without knowing what he did for a living," Judge Stephen Mish wrote. "I find the agency has adduced preponderant evidence in support of this specification, and it is sustained."
More: Read the full decision from MSPB
Though her appeal was denied, Helman's attorneys – from the law firm of Shaw, Bransford and Roth – called the decision a vindication for their client's reputation.
"By removing Ms. Helman from her position and from the federal civil service, the VA hoped the American public would accept its preferred storyline," the firm wrote in a letter released Dec. 24. "But the MSPB's decision sets the story straight. Sharon Helman did not kill veterans. Sharon Helman did not manipulate wait time data."
Helman's lawyers stated that the administrator was not asked or allowed to speak with the investigators or the media on her own behalf.
"In so doing, the VA knowingly made Ms. Helman (and her fellow career civil servants working at the Phoenix VA) bear the brunt of the contrived political outrage, despite its knowledge the public allegations against her lacked merit," the letter reads. "Ms. Helman's previously unblemished career and reputation were destroyed for political purposes and the public deserves to know why. The MSPB decision on Ms. Helman's appeal is a start."
Helman was placed on administrative leave for more than 200 days before being fired in late November.
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
