Over the past three years, the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) has initiated thirty-one investigations into employee conduct that have resulted in discipline up to and including termination, and the Equal Employment Office (EEO) has conducted five investigations into allegations of discrimination and/or harassment, showing a work environment at the state agency in charge of helping, housing, and nursing veterans, that appears to have deteriorated with repeated conduct issues, in-fighting, and allegations of an unfair administration.

The investigations and discipline reports obtained by Inside Investigator through a Freedom of Information request represent only a portion of the actual workplace issues: investigations that did not result in discipline were not included, nor were stipulated agreements in lieu of discipline. The forced retirements of at least two former directors for the state agency were likewise left out of the release.

Nevertheless, investigations that concluded with official discipline over the last three years include instances of marijuana and/or alcohol being found on premises, marijuana use during work, multiple instances of state vehicle misuse, low-level larceny, one medication mistake that left a patient hospitalized, the falsification of a patient record, multiple hostile work environment issues, and one employee who was cited three times for being late to work a combined 83 days.

With a rolling, hilly campus across 92 acres, the DVA had a budget of over $41 million in fiscal year 2025 and currently cares for 143 veterans in their residential facilities and 89 patients at their skilled nursing facility. In addition to caring directly for veterans at its campus, the DVA conducts cemetery and memorial services and helps veterans get their federal and state benefits with a staff of 239 employees.

However, maintaining the campus and services proves expensive; the department ended fiscal year 2025 with an operating deficit of $1 million, which was balanced by two account transfers approved by the Office of Policy and Management. The DVA also instituted a fee increase from 25 percent of income to 30 percent of income for residents to help cover “the rise in prices and operating costs,” according to the board of trustees’ July 23, 2025, meeting.

Adding at least a little bit to those costs would be the 78 days of suspension employees racked up between 2022 and 2025, which, while unpaid, either left the department short-staffed or required someone to fill in, adding to overtime costs. Additionally, employees are placed on paid leave pending investigation before discipline can be either meted out or negotiated with the employee and their union rep. 

According to the Office of Fiscal Analysis, overtime spending at the DVA increased from $1.7 million in 2022 to $2.2 million for fiscal year 2025, a nearly 30 percent increase.

During that same time, internal investigations and investigations by the EEO have been launched against individuals in every facet of DVA employment: maintenance workers, security officers, the Chaplain, mail room employees, nurses, the cooking staff, agency directors, and even the director of Human Resources who was handling the discipline. For a relatively small department, it appears a bit querulous.

However, according to numerous off the record conversations with both former and current DVA employees, the new administration under DVA Commissioner Ronald P. Welch marked a culture change in the work environment when he was confirmed in 2023. 

Former DVA Director of Security Steve Scatena, who was forced out of his job over an ethics complaint that was ultimately unsubstantiated by the Office of State Ethics, says investigations and discipline have increased since the departure of former Commissioner Thomas Saadi, but that discipline is not always fairly administered.

“If you’re in the ‘in crowd,’ you’re good, you can screw up. But if you’re someone they want out, then they get you on a minor thing,” Scatena said, who says he is still “sore” over his ousting. “There’s a lot of in-fighting among the employees; there’s a lot of in-fighting among the directors and HR.”

It wasn’t necessarily Welch, those interviewed said, but rather the transition of Joe Danao from executive assistant and director of projects and operations to deputy commissioner in 2023 – a previously non-existent role created especially for him – which led to a workplace environment that grew dysfunctional. Danao had been slated to retire but admittedly stayed on to help transition to a new administration and, for a time, held the role of acting DVA commissioner.

It is also not that employee conduct problems didn’t exist under former Commissioner Saadi. According to those interviewed, Saadi ran a “tight ship,” meaning that when there were employee problems, they were dealt with quickly, quietly, and personally from the very top, so workplace issues between employees were often dealt with in a more informal manner. “Saadi ran his agency,” Scatena said. “He’s a leader.”

Welch, on the other hand, has taken a more hands-off approach and allowed HR Specialist Bethanne Watts to pursue and render discipline in a more formal manner, resulting in investigations, discipline, and termination. Unlike the previous HR director, who answered directly to Saadi, Watts is technically an employee of the Department of Administrative Services and handles HR for the DVA under an inter-agency agreement. 

How HR’s investigations and discipline have played out, though, is a mixed bag; some claim Watts has led “witch hunts” against personnel trying to find anything and everything to get employees disciplined or terminated for things that could likely have been solved with a conversation. Many others, however, indicate that Danao – who maintained his position as head of DVA’s facilities department, thus keeping much of the on-grounds maintenance, carpentry, and engineering crew under his direct supervision – actively interfered in employee investigations, pressuring both HR and investigators to drop cases or adjust discipline to protect his team members. 

Those interviewed argue Danao’s interference resulted in unequal discipline or no discipline at all, and bred a contentious atmosphere at the DVA in which investigations into employees were done without consulting management and repeat offenders were given a pass while first-time offenders were shown the door.

“The unfairness drags people down, the negativity drags people down,” Scatena said.

According to a review of the investigations and discipline, that general description from both current and former DVA employees could be anger over the loss of a job or discipline received; some of it could depend on whether the employee in question has union representation, which dictates how discipline can be administered; some of it could be interpersonal conflict that spills into the workplace, and some of it is could be true.

Former high-level DVA employees who have long state service records and have since retired or moved on to new positions within the state say the work environment at DVA is unlike anything they have experienced at other, much larger departments.

“As with any organization, employee disciplinary actions are inevitable,” Commissioner Welch said in response to questions emailed by Inside Investigator. “I am an advocate of the principle of progressive discipline and encourage supervisors and all levels to use every opportunity to assist our employees in meeting their individual goals. There are checks and balances to disciplinary issues, which are applied fairly and impartially. If an employee thinks they have been disciplined unfairly or without just cause, they have the right to appeal the decision through the grievance procedure.”

Sometimes interpersonal conflicts have played a role; other times, based on the investigations received and not received by Inside Investigator, it appears that some things were swept under the rug.

2023 alone accounted for 15 out of the 35 investigations obtained by Inside Investigator and resulted in 19 days of suspension and one termination, but not all violations were equal. Across all the investigations, five were for procedure violations among the nursing staff when it came to wounds and skin ulcers or facemask protocols, all of which received a one-day suspension.

But some of the more egregious employee conduct violations show repeat offenders who appear to either ignore prior discipline, manage to get off the hook for other violations, or maintain their jobs despite the seriousness of their offense.

In December of 2021, DVA security received three anonymous phone calls stating that Building Supervisor Elton Cerma, who worked under Danao, was using one of the DVA’s state vehicles for personal use, driving it back and forth from his home, which was reportedly only two miles away. After security confirmed the vehicle use, Cerma explained that his personal vehicle had broken down, and he thought it would be okay to use the DVA vehicle since he is often called back to work to address building issues. Security noted that Cerma was called back to campus at 8:30 pm to address a temperature issue.

Following a meeting with HR, Cerma admitted using the state vehicle without permission was a mistake. He received a one-day suspension and signed an agreement indicating he would never misuse a state vehicle again under penalty of termination.

Just months later, in February of 2022, Cerma was found to have taken workout equipment from the on-site probation office, which had exercise equipment on hand for officer training, after the office had flooded. While asking DVA maintenance workers where the equipment might have gone, security found the missing dumbbells at Cerma’s workstation. Under questioning with union representation present, Cerma gave statements that conflicted with evidence, and indicated he thought the weights were to be discarded, so he took them. While the incident technically amounted to fifth-degree larceny, probation did not pursue charges, and Cerma received a five-day suspension.

Following a promotion and pay raise in 2023 to plant facilities engineer, Cerma again began to use the state vehicle for personal use during his lunch break, despite having just purchased a Porsche SUV, according to the investigation report. Cerma again gave false statements, was placed on administrative leave for a month, and then terminated.

A month earlier, however, Cerma was instrumental in alerting DVA security to a more concerning issue when he called them to an area assigned to DVA carpenter Robert Eldredge, who also worked under Joseph Danao. Officers discovered a work area filled with trash, a full ashtray, safety hazards, the “strong odor of marijuana,” and drug paraphernalia, according to the investigation report.

“I inspected the surrounding area and in plain sight saw tinfoil, lighters, razorblades, and Glade cans on the ground below the window. To the right of the window I found empty cigarette packs and a metal lid to a container with unidentifiable residual substance, along with marks from razorblades on the lid,” the April 6, 2023, investigation report states. “This paraphernalia is most commonly used to smoke marijuana or crack cocaine.”

A search of Eldredge’s desk found both marijuana and numerous empty liquor bottles. While these details are redacted in the report, they have been referenced in other documents. An inspection of the state vehicle used by Eldredge found it to be “unclean and had crumpled cigarettes and ash strewn about.”

Despite the extensive contraband discovered by security, Eldredge denied everything. Following a meeting with his union representative, he was given a three-day suspension and subject to random inspections of his work area under a stipulated agreement. 

Although that is the only internal investigation report resulting in discipline for Eldredge, it was not the only investigation into his conduct. According to the DVA investigation report and Loudermill responses given by former Security Director Scatena, Eldredge was also twice found to be driving state vehicles in an unsafe manner — speeding, running stop signs, turning left through a red light, and at one point turning so fast that an air compressor unit fell out of the back of the truck and onto the street. 

It was while Eldredge was being investigated for state vehicle misuse that, according to the DVA investigation, he made the complaint against Security Director Scatena, alleging Scatena had used his position as security director to coerce maintenance employees into making repairs at his house for cash, which was then rigorously pursued by HR. 

According to Scatena’s Loudermill responses, “Eldredge also told me, in the presence of BGPO Supervisor Postell, that he (incorrectly) believes I was directly responsible for an investigation of drug paraphernalia and miniature liquor bottles discovered in his on-campus workshop.”

While Scatena was eventually forced to retire by the administration under the threat of losing retirement benefits – despite the Office of State Ethics (OSE) finding that he’d not violated ethics policies — Eldredge remains employed at the DVA, according to state records. 

In addition to the finding of drug paraphernalia and alcohol bottles in 2023, in February of 2024, Certified Nursing Assistant Terrese Dorsey was found to have used marijuana while on campus and working at the health center. Security officials, who had earlier been in a meeting with Dorsey and her union rep over an unrelated issue regarding unsafe driving on campus, received multiple complaints later in the day that Dorsey smelled of marijuana. 

Upon meeting with her, they detected the smell of marijuana both on her and a strong smell emanating from her car. She allowed security to inspect the car, whereupon they found “1 partially smoked blunt and 1 ashtray full of smoked blunts,” according to the investigation report. Dorsey commented that the marijuana was “very good quality.” 

Dorsey told security officers that she smokes in her car, so her children don’t see her, and that she had smoked that morning, and, according to the report, she “never refuted the fact that she was high while at work, only stating that she had smoked that morning.” She was cooperative with security, who then confiscated the marijuana for the purposes of the investigation, and her family had to retrieve her car and drive her home, as security did not believe it was safe for her to drive.

However, the follow-up meeting to discuss Dorsey’s punishment with the SEIU 1199 union representative became bizarre when Dorsey began denying that she had used marijuana on state grounds and that she had given permission for security to enter her vehicle. The union rep allegedly prevented Dorsey from answering questions or coached her on how to answer questions, disputed the legitimacy of the investigation, questioned the confiscation of Dorsey’s marijuana and not allowing her to drive home, and then demanded security interview recordings that didn’t exist. In the end, Dorsey received a five-day suspension and remains employed.

Lastly, there is the curious case of Rev. Michael Galasso, who served as the DVA Chaplain since 2013. According to the investigation report, the Chaplain was suspended for three days in 2023 after allowing one of the DVA residents to perform repair work on his van and allowing the resident to drive the vehicle on campus even though he did not have a license. 

Galasso indicated that he wanted to allow the resident to use his mechanic skills, and although the resident was a churchgoer who was happy to help the priest, Galasso ran afoul of DVA rules and state ethics and was given a three-day suspension.

Galasso made headlines in 2008 when he was removed as the long-time parish priest of St. Peter’s Church on Main Street in Hartford after the diocese discovered he had acted as a straw-purchaser of a bodega for a man previously convicted of hundreds of thousands in food stamp fraud, had been deported, and was in the country illegally. Galasso had been collecting cash from both his own bodega and surrounding ones, he claimed, as donations to the church. When he sold the bodega a year later, the buyer ended up in hot water with the federal government and filed a lawsuit.

However, Galasso was placed on administrative leave by the Archdiocese in April of 2024 for unknown reasons. According to the notice published by the Archdiocese, priests on administrative leave “have had their faculties revoked,” and “are not to be performing public ministry in any form.” Although the Archdiocese states, “Parishes, funeral homes, institutions, etc. are not to engage their pastoral services,” Galasso remained employed by DVA as Chaplain until November 30, 2024. 

While these cases stand out as egregious, there were five investigations into hostile work environments or threatening which resulted in suspension or termination – two of those instances involved the same employee; and six disciplinary actions over multiple tardies and absences. 

Three of the disciplinary actions for tardiness involved the same employee who was cited for a combined 83 days of tardiness and multiple absences. He was given a one-day suspension, a five-day suspension, and then a 10-day suspension, along with a new shift under a “last chance agreement” to help him “be successful.”

Likewise, over the course of eight months a kitchen staff member had three written warnings, a two-day suspension for cell phone use and attendance, and a Loudermill discussion for “not wearing shoes in the work area, putting bare hands in the food and eating on the line.” Following three more instances of being excessively late to work, laying on an employee’s desk while on her phone, and a generally “unkempt appearance,” she was finally terminated after it was discovered she had two recent arrests that she had not disclosed.

All those employees had union representation, often involving conversations with former Deputy Speaker of the House and Democrat Representative from Wethersfield, Russell Morin, who was employed as a staff representative for the Connecticut Employees Union Independent and retired from politics in 2021. The other union representing staff members was largely SEIU 1199, whose representatives were outwardly hostile during meetings, according to multiple sources.

Labor contracts dictate how employees can be disciplined and the steps the state must take to terminate an employee. Often discipline becomes a negotiation between the union representative and management, who want to avoid the costly process of going to arbitration and then, potentially, court. State agencies that have moved too quickly to terminate an employee – even over documented illegal activities during work hours and widely publicized arrests – have been forced to return those employees to their jobs with years of back pay and sometimes additional monetary damages.

Others, particularly those in director roles or who were in their working test periods, however, saw themselves either terminated for a first-time issue or forced out with little evidence against them. 

“They don’t push back on serious violations when it pertains to a union member. They’re afraid of the backlash from the unions and how it will reflect on them,” Scatena said. “They have a union issue; they don’t really like pushing the union. Unions have more clout than non-union personnel. If I was a union member, what happened to me would have never happened.”

The seriousness and potential workplace impact of many of these investigations and disciplinary actions show the need for a strong hand in human resources and, perhaps, from the commissioner. But the investigations launched by HR into former director Scatena, and the former Director of Food Services, sent some long-time employees scrambling to either retire or move to different state government departments, taking with them deep institutional knowledge.

It’s not that they thought they had done anything wrong, but rather they perceived – rightly or wrongly – an environment that had grown increasingly punitive and that discipline was more dependent on who was in the administration’s good graces. In their last years of state service, they wanted to avoid any issues that could jeopardize their retirement; they wanted to avoid being “next on the list.” 

The investigation into and forced retirement of two long-time directors with impeccable records, according to multiple sources, was seen as a turning point. Both were forced out through investigations launched by HR and involved the Office of State Ethics. For both, the decision to retire was a matter of calculating risk; weighing whether the expensive legal fight was worth the threat of potentially losing their retirement benefits. In both cases, fighting the state with its nearly unlimited resources proved too much.

The director of food services, however, faced a more severe threat. By all accounts, he was a well-liked, and highly effective director with no prior employment or disciplinary issues and oversaw having to feed hundreds of residents, patients, and sometimes staff three meals a day, seven days a week. It is a very time-intense job that is greatly affected when employees are late, absent, or out on leave.

He first faced a complaint filed with the EEO alleging he had discriminated and harassed an employee on the basis of sex by calling and texting her outside of work hours about non-work-related issues. The employee admitted they were former friends but had grown apart. Ultimately, the complaint was unsubstantiated, but it did bring up some privacy concerns around FMLA policy. 

The director – who has asked not to be named because this period of his life has been quite emotionally painful – says he had found employees using FMLA time to work other jobs, like driving for Uber, and that HR approved the FMLA time with little question, even after he brought his findings and concerns to Watts. He argued he could not effectively run his department with so many people on leave. 

Following a meeting with Watts and Welch to discuss the FMLA situation in food services, he says his relationship with administration took a negative turn. 

“I believe that’s when it all started, especially with me,” he said in an interview. “I ran an essential department, and no staff were required to show up… Then you’re told you can’t have overtime. Really, unreasonable expectations.”

It was shortly after that meeting that the EEO complaint was lodged against him by his assistant who he claims had become very close with Watts. The investigation hung over his head and left him feeling isolated in his job. 

It certainly wasn’t the only EEO investigation that took place at the DVA: in 2023 a nurse’s aide claimed a licensed practical nurse had discriminated against and harassed her on the basis of sex by physically restricting her access to the nurses’ refrigerator and physically trapping her in a doorway, all of which was unsubstantiated.

In 2022, a DVA Maintainer alleged racial discrimination by coworkers in the form racially discriminatory comments. He claimed that he took his concerns to a meeting with Danao, Watts, and his supervisor. Thereafter, the maintainer, who was still in his working test period, received unsatisfactory ratings on his review and was terminated. He subsequently claimed he was retaliated against him for filing a discrimination complaint.

The very lengthy 138-page EEO report did not substantiate the claims of racial discrimination and retaliation but found enough evidence that “conversations occurred that were not fully appropriate for the workplace by all of the employees,” and that “the lack of properly following the reporting procedures escalated the growing tension.” Ultimately, the investigator recommended everyone – including Danao and Watts – receive training on the DVA Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Policy. 

Lastly, a pair of EEO complaints – one against Watts and the other against some DVA nurse aides – alleged discrimination on the basis of race after a nurse’s aide in their work training period was let go for claims “falsifying records and stealing time;” and another by a nurse’s aide who claimed she was not trained properly, given a poor service rating, and let go. Those investigations against Watts and the nursing aides were also not substantiated.

However, after the EEO’s investigation into the food services director, the DVA launched a second investigation involving both DVA security and the Office of State Ethics, who accused him of working his part-time job selling cars at a dealership during his one telework day per week. Secondly, they claimed that he used his position as a director to influence employees – none of whom worked directly beneath him – to purchase cars from the dealership. He adamantly denies both accusations.

In an interview, the former director says he sold cars on weekends when he wasn’t working at the DVA and sometimes utilized an unused back office at the dealership as his telework location during his one telework day per week. Since he had not updated his telework address from his home to the dealership, it raised a red flag for HR. Investigators from both the DVA and OSE followed him, photographed him at the dealership, and determined that he was working a second job on state time. 

“I will take one hundred percent responsibility for not changing my address on my telework. It’s my fault. I will own it, because I have to own it,” he said, adding that the issue was never brought to him to have a conversation with administration. “The worst thing that should have happened to me was to be removed from my telework agreement. They say I double dipped. They never investigated my dealership payroll.”

“It is my opinion that if they had just had a conversation with me as employee to employer we could come to a conclusion as to the best way to handle it,” he continued. “You don’t walk a seventeen-year employee out the door who had a perfect work record.”

The OSE also pursued fines against him. He had to retain legal counsel in order to ensure he received his entitled pay and benefits from the DVA and to defend him against the ethics accusation. But, faced with a state with unlimited resources and having to foot a growing legal bill and the emotional turmoil that came with it, he ultimately decided to settle with OSE.

He is admittedly upset about the experience, believing the administration was too quick to discipline him for actions similar to the FMLA issues he had reported to HR. It was a difficult, expensive, and emotionally tolling experience that he says could have easily been resolved with a conversation instead of a costly investigation that sent other long-time staff heading for the exits.

On October 20, Gov. Ned Lamont and DVA Commissioner Welch issued a press release announcing completion of the first phase of an expansion of Connecticut’s Patriot’s Landing program, which provides additional temporary housing on campus for veterans and their families. The project, completed over several years, was provided for with American Rescue Plan dollars and increased the number of available homes from five to eleven.

“The growth of this program and the number of housing units underscores the state’s unwavering commitment to supporting our veterans and their families,” Lamont said in the press release. “Our veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for our country, and it is our duty to ensure they receive the support and care they deserve.”

“We are excited to increase our services to Connecticut’s veterans,” Welch said. “By expanding temporary family housing, we are not only addressing the immediate needs of our veteran families but also fostering a supportive community. The Patriots Landing program provides robust wrap-around services from affordable safe housing to case management to social and mental health support.”

Just four days later was Danao’s last day in state service, finally taking the retirement that he’d put off several years ago. When interviewed for a previous Inside Investigator story, he had talked at length about the Patriot’s Landing expansion and appeared proud of its progress.

Whatever workplace and employee issues there are at the DVA, their mission is an important one. Veterans face higher rates of mental health disorders, PTSD, substance abuse, traumatic brain disorders, and suicide, according to a study in the National Library of Medicine, and sometimes require help in transitioning back to civilian life, particularly after numerous deployments.

“Successful veteran reintegration into civilian life rests upon providing veterans with training that builds on their military knowledge and skill, employment post-separation from service, homelessness prevention, and mental health programs that promote civilian transition,” the 2015 study by Maria Olenick, Monica Flowers, and Valerie J. Diaz stated. 

Additionally, veterans account for roughly 5 percent of the adult homeless population, and with an aging population – 51 percent of Connecticut’s 153,000 veterans are over the age of 65 – housing, care, and treatment options available at the DVA’s mission grow more and more important.

“It’s an atmosphere where you see death, and people struggling through substance abuse and trauma in their lives,” Scatena said of the DVA and its work with veterans. “That’s not pleasurable either, if you have a heart. That bothers you. But you try to help the people out even more so, and there’s good people that are working there. There really is.” 

“I am extremely proud of the hard work the more than 220 employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs perform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on behalf of the Veterans we serve here on campus and across the State of Connecticut,” Welch said. “Every day these dedicated professionals assist Veterans and family members submit disability claims, work collaboratively to help Veterans in our residential facility develop the skills necessary to thrive independently in the community, and provide compassionate care to our Veterans in the skilled nursing facility in the twilight of life.”

Welch says, additionally, the DVA is expanding its residential capacity to add 30 spaces by next year, “put almost $200 million into veterans’ pockets” through the DVA’s Advocacy and Assistance program, and conducts over 700 funerals per year. 

But all of this requires staff, and it requires staff who can, to the best extent possible, maintain the level of professionalism and decorum the veterans deserve. Sometimes, with a transition comes conflict, but Welch says he will continue to enforce standards across the department.

“I believe our employees are hardworking, dedicated people that care deeply about the important work of the Department,” Welch said. “I am committed to ensuring that all employees maintain high standards of ethical behavior incumbent to public service and expected by the taxpayer. I will continue to enforce those standards, consistent with due process, across the Department.”

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