A group of former employees is suing the Nevada Department of Veterans Services (NDVS), alleging that the agency and multiple officials engaged in retaliatory behavior and endangered the safety of residents at a state-run veterans nursing home in Southern Nevada.
The lawsuit filed earlier this year in Clark County, alleges that leaders at NDVS and at the nursing home engaged in “sham” investigations against workers that eventually led to their unlawful termination. The lawsuit also alleges that those leaders asked the employees to commit illegal activity on anything from timekeeping to the handling of controlled substances, and failed to hold officials accountable.
The lawsuit was originally filed by one ex-employee — Eli Quiñones, the former administrator of the nursing home in Boulder City — but it expanded in January to include three other ex-employees and a contractor who worked at the nursing home.
It is asking for a jury trial and damages to cover lost benefits and the suffering that the plaintiffs experienced, including “mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life.”
NDVS declined to comment.
The case, which had not been previously reported, comes after the Nevada State Police launched an investigation into the agency last year, and two people interviewed by investigators told The Indy at the time that the investigation was focused on the agency’s workplace environment and leadership of the Southern Nevada nursing home, which is a 180-bed state-run facility that provides 24-hour care to veterans and their spouses and Gold Star parents.
A spokesperson for Nevada State Police did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the investigation.
The officials named in the lawsuit are Fred Wagar, the former agency director whom Gov. Joe Lombardo removed last year, and Corine Watson, the director of nursing at the veterans home.
The state moved to partially dismiss the case in June, and the plaintiffs agreed — meaning that some of the complaints against Wagar and Watson in their official capacities will not move forward, but the allegations can still be brought against them in their individual capacities.
When asked for comment, Watson did not respond and Wagar referred to NDVS.
The wide-ranging lawsuit includes a bevy of anecdotes and accusations against the agency and two officials, including that they instituted a culture of retaliation and committed improper behaviors detrimental to resident safety at the veterans home.
Specifically, it alleges that Watson refused to implement COVID-19 testing for staff and residents, leading to an outbreak in November 2022 that resulted in the deaths of three patients. It also accuses Watson of being negligent in overseeing staff that provided wound care to residents, and that reports of this conduct went unaddressed.
The suit also includes an anecdote where one of the plaintiffs was placed under investigation for refusing to “violate the laws and regulations for electronic medical recordkeeping.”
For about four months, the plaintiff was prohibited from going to the veterans home, which is where her mother lived, according to the lawsuit.
“(T)his denial of access to this Nevada state government facility, which resulted in Plaintiff Walcott not being able to visit her mother for a considerable period of time, was done by Defendant Watson and others out of a personal vendetta and personal spite,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also makes several other accusations, including that a worker’s alleged abuse of a patient was not reported under proper protocols, a lack of understanding of federal nursing procedures, that the defendants stymied the plaintiffs’ efforts to report or investigate wrongdoing and that people who sought to expose misconduct were retaliated against.
It also claims that leaders changed the protocols for maintaining discontinued narcotics at the nursing home, which the lawsuit alleges “introduced much more room for error.”
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This story was originally published by The Nevada Independent and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
