Summary: Imagine your Daughter | Mother | Sister,  reporting harassment, only to see leadership protect the harasser instead. Female employees spoke up, complaints were substantiated, and settlements were paid—including a prior taxpayer-funded settlement for confirmed racial harassment—yet Phoenix VA Police leadership, under OSP oversight, still chose to keep those responsible in power, reinforcing a culture that tolerates and perpetuates harassment against female employees.

THEY KNEW—AND PROTECTED THEM ANYWAY

Let's ask the question that Phoenix VA Police Leadership and Phoenix VA Health Care System (PVAHCS) "Executives" have spent years dodging, deflecting, and burying under paperwork:

• Why does the Phoenix VA Police Department protect men who harass women and punish the women who report them?

We're not asking for a friend. We're asking because the public record — FOIA documents, OIG complaints, EEO filings, substantiated findings, and civil litigation — demands an answer.

And so far? Crickets.

THE "SHORT LATINA OFFICER" – A CASE STUDY IN SYSTEMIC FAILURE

In July 2025, a female officer did exactly what VA policy requires:

She reported sexual harassment by a supervisor.

Not just any supervisor — but one with substantiated racial and sexual harassment findings already on record. A supervisor who should have been removed from leadership years ago, but was instead retained, protected, and allowed to continue operating with "authority" by Police Leadership and PVAHCS "Executive" staff.

What happened to her?

Leadership took no meaningful corrective action.

The harasser was retained.

The officer was left to bear the cost and has been placed on a forced detail in another department—keeping her from public view and isolating her from individuals who could become potential material witnesses.

This is not an isolated incident. Across 2022 through 2026 (presently), the same pattern repeats:

• Complaint,
• Notice,
• Substantiation,
• Retention,
• Silence.

Yet Phoenix VA Police Leadership and PVAHCS "Executive" Leadership, despite knowing, allowed a supervisor with substantiated racial (Against an "African American Sergeant") and sexual harassment findings to remain in a leadership role — costing taxpayers thousands of dollars — while continuing to claim there is no systemic problem.

LGBTQ+ OFFICERS: NOT SAFE FROM HARASSMENT EITHER

Let's be clear:

• The harassment isn't limited to straight women. LGBTQ+ officers are not safe in this department either.

Based on internal accounts, some LGBTQ+ officers have even advised female colleagues — those not already in same-sex relationships — to "become gay" or "become lesbian" simply to avoid harassment from management. Think about that. The environment is so toxic that the perceived solution is to change one's orientation rather than expect leadership to do its job.

When officers are telling each other to hide who they are or pretend to be something they are not just to survive another shift, the system is not broken — the system is functioning exactly as leadership has allowed it to.

The Documentation They Can't Hide

There is extensive documentation supporting this environment:

• Text messages,
• Memorandums, and
• Internal records of female officers and employees repeatedly complaining about management.

Many of these complaints center around "a single individual" the department failed to properly address despite notice.

What Happens to the Ones Who Speak Up

Some employees leave. Others stay, remain outwardly positive, and still report the same issues behind the scenes.

What Will Come Out in Litigation

These records, and the pattern they establish, will be revealed in future litigation.

Silence Has a Cost

While it is understandable that employees seek to protect their jobs and livelihoods, that silence has consequences — and it allows the harm to continue.

THE FIREARM INCIDENT THAT SHOULD HAVE ENDED CAREERS

Let's revisit VA OIG Case No. 2024-03707-HL-1220 — obtained through FOIA — because it is a textbook example of how leadership covers for leadership.

A Firearm on Federal Property

On April 4, 2024, a Phoenix VA Police dispatcher brought a personal firearm onto VA property. Supervisors were notified. Allegedly, instead of seizing the weapon and documenting the incident in accordance with VA Handbook 0730, they instructed the dispatcher to place the firearm back in his vehicle.

A Known Pattern Ignored

At the same time, the same individual was described in records as a male employee struggling with "sexual issues" in front of an older female dispatcher, called her at home regarding work related matters, and created a hostile work environment she repeatedly complained about. Management did nothing effectively to resolve the matter. Then the firearm incident occurred and a Harassment Prevention Program (HPP) complaint was filed by the dispatcher.

Substantiated — Then Stopped

When the VA finally initiated a HPP review, three out of four harassment allegations were substantiated. Three. Substantiated. And then the process stopped. As documented:

• "The VA's Harassment Prevention Program is a leadership-driven process and therefore, there is no further avenue of redress."

No Accountability

No further redress. No accountability. No removal. Only retention. 

WHAT THE VA TRIED TO HIDE VS. WHAT THE COURT RECORDS SHOW

A FOIA request was filed for this case and the VA redacted everything related to the sexual addiction materials and the harassment findings.

What the Lawsuit Reveals That FOIA Tried to Bury

However, a civil lawsuit — Ramirez v. Phoenix Veterans Affairs Police Department, et al., Case No. 2:25-cv-00959 (D. Ariz.) — tells the truth the VA attempted to obscure through redactions. The record describes a male employee struggling with sexual addiction who openly read and highlighted sexual addiction materials in front of an older female dispatcher, called her at home regarding work matters, and later brought a firearm onto VA property in a bag next to her, informing her of its presence before ultimately self-reporting. He was allegedly allowed to "voluntarily resign" by Police Leadership.

No suspension. No detail. No Write up. No Termination. No Accountability.

Imagine If This Was Your Family

Imagine if this was your grandmother, your sister, your wife, or your daughter?

What Happens After You Speak Up

She retired shortly after — pushed out of a role where she had provided years of steady, almost maternal-level support to officers and leadership alike. When she later inquired about returning, she was told there was no place for her. Not because she lacked value — but because she spoke up.

In This Department, Reporting Is Betrayal

In a department where harassment is substantiated but protected, reporting it isn’t seen as integrity. It’s treated as betrayal.

But public records — and the OIG case number itself — tell the truth. This department has a problem with women, and leadership has no interest in solving it.

MULTIPLE EEO COMPLAINTS – AND COUNTING – GROWING

The numbers do not lie. The department has faced numerous formal EEO complaints and internal harassment reports in just the last few years. These include allegations of sexual harassment, racial discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environments.

• 2022: Two Black officers filed EEO complaints. One, filed in March, was resolved informally through ADR early in 2022, but was later met with retaliation, including attempts to weaponize federal court processes. The second officer initially sought informal resolution through ADR, but after leadership invited his alleged harasser to participate as “support” — he withdrew and pursued a formal EEO complaint in October 2022, exposing issues that remain present today.
• 2023: A female officer filed a sexual harassment EEO complaint that led to a Final Agency Decision (FAD). Details remain sealed, but the fact that it exists — and that no meaningful action followed — speaks volumes.  
• 2024: The VA paid out a settlement using taxpayer funds due to the actions of a VA Police supervisor with substantiated racial and sexual harassment findings.
• 2025: Multiple officers filed "formal" EEO complaint against the department.
• 2026: Present: Multiple EEO complaints remain active, all linked to the same pattern and the same leadership structure that retained individuals with substantiated sexual and racial harassment findings.

Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Numerous female employees reported harassment to coworkers but did not file formal complaints due to fear of retaliation and ultimately left the department. Some altered their sexual orientation or how they presented themselves at work to avoid targeting. Many stayed silent or quietly exited—reinforcing a leadership culture that, despite substantiated sexual and racial harassment, signals that nothing will happen to those responsible.

The Pattern Is Clear

Substantiated findings.

Notice to leadership.

No meaningful action.

Continued retention.

Yet leadership continues to claim there is no systemic problem. They point to one-off personnel actions while ignoring the record stacked against them.

THE REAL PROBLEM: LEADERSHIP RETAINS AND EMPOWERS

Here is the part that should terrify every officer in the department:

• Phoenix VA Police leadership and PVAHCS “Executive” leadership allowed individuals with substantiated racial harassment and sexual harassment findings to remain in positions of authority and to influence promotions, hiring, and disciplinary matters.

The Anchor Reality

Phoenix VA Police leadership and PVAHCS "Executives" were aware of substantiated harassment findings, documented complaints, and resulting liability — including a taxpayer-funded settlement — and still allowed those individuals to remain and influence hiring and promotions.

That is not a personnel oversight.

That is a leadership choice.

You Can't Transfer Liability

They appear to have believed that the February 2026 consolidation removing VA Police from under the VA Healthcare Administration (VHA) would shift or eliminate liability for prior inaction. It does not. The liability remains with the Phoenix "Executive" who were in charge at the time and failed to correct known misconduct. They are now currently RMOs in multiple EEOs as of 2026. 

What could possibly go wrong — when leadership already knows the outcome?

OVERSIGHT IN NAME ONLY – IS OSP GOING TO DO ANYTHING?

This is not speculation. It is documented in VA's own records. The Office of Operations, Security and Preparedness (OSP) — the body now responsible for oversight — was made aware of these issues.

OSP "Executives" are aware of these matters, aware of the names and individuals involved, and have "acknowledged receipt" — yet continue to allow this conduct to persist with full knowledge.

OSP was aware.

OSP acknowledged receipt.

OSP did not intervene.

And this is occurring under OSP oversight.

A Culture Allowed to Continue

And OSP? They have allowed this to continue. They inherited the same culture of silence, favoritism, and procedural illegality that plagued this department for years.

This environment persists not because it is hidden — but because it is tolerated. The system is functioning exactly as leadership has allowed it to.

UPCOMING PROMOTION, KNOWN RISKS

With upcoming promotions and the selection of new supervisory officials, the risk is no longer theoretical. The department itself is asking applicants to depend on a leadership structure that not only has substantiated sexual harassment within its ranks, but has actively retained those individuals in positions of authority.

Female applicants for this promotion must rely on leadership that has been found responsible for sexual harassment and still allowed to remain in power. And employees who engaged in protected activity as witnesses against that harassment must now depend on that same retained leadership for hiring and advancement decisions.

For Those Participating in This Promotion

For those of you participating in this promotion, what are you going to do?

We understand some female employees have stayed silent during prior EEO complaints and harassment incidents to protect their livelihoods. But that silence also helped create the environment that exists today.

This promotion is not just another personnel action. It is a line in the sand. It will confirm everything that has been reported, everything that has been documented, and everything leadership has denied.

What happens when power remains in the hands of Police leadership and OSP that knowingly retain individuals with substantiated sexual harassment — those same leaders now controlling who rises and who does not?

Let that sink in. Think about what that means — not just for you, but for everyone who comes after you.

FROM “R.O.T.” TO “R.O.T.T.E.N.”

And OSP? What have they done? They have continued to allow it — accepting Phoenix VA's R.O.T. (Retaliation, Obstruction, Tolerance) and enabling its evolution into something worse:

• R.O.T.T.E.N.(ness)

OSP is not the solution. OSP is part of the problem.

THE BOTTOM LINE

• Sexual harassment is substantiated — and retained.
• Women are not protected — and leadership does not care enough to act.
• A dispatcher brought a gun to work after engaging in disturbing sexual conduct toward a female coworker — and was retained, then allowed to voluntarily resign.
• Multiple EEO complaints — 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and beyond — have resulted in no meaningful change.
• Individuals with substantiated harassment ("Racial" & "Sexual")  findings were retained by leadership and left inside the decision-making structure.
• OSP was aware, acknowledged receipt, and did not effectively intervene.
• This is not a department with a few bad apples. This is a department where the entire barrel is R.O.T.T.E.N. — and the people in charge of cleaning it are the ones who filled it.

FINAL NOTE: TO THE WOMEN STILL INSIDE

We know the truth. We have seen it. And we know some of you had to go into self-preservation to protect your livelihoods — staying silent because management protected sexual harassers.

What you experienced was real.

And it was documented.

Even if you have to remain silent, understand this:

• You are not alone in what you have experienced or what you know.

We Will Say What You Can't

We will be your voice. We will expose the truth that you know, that others know, but cannot speak on for fear of retaliation — because retaliation is real in this department.

Silence Won’t Stop What’s Coming

We understand why some of you stay quiet. But silence does not erase what happened. It does not protect the next woman. And it will not stop what is already building.

The Truth Is Coming Out

• The documentation exists.
• The witnesses exist.
• The pattern is already established.

And when it all comes forward — through litigation, investigation, or public exposure — there will be no question about what happened or who allowed it.

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Concerned Citizens AZ – We're not here to be liked. We're here to be right.

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READER NOTICE

Concerned Citizens Media encourages readers to independently verify the information contained in this publication, including through public records, official sources, or AI-assisted research tools. For additional information or clarification, readers are encouraged to contact appropriate Department of Veterans Affairs officials or their local VA facility directly.

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DISCLAIMER

Any attempt to retaliate against current or former VA employees, officers, contractors, or witnesses for engaging in protected whistleblower or EEO activity related to the matters discussed herein may constitute a violation of federal law, including 5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(8)–(9), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and applicable VA anti‑retaliation policies. Documentation, reporting, or public discussion of substantiated misconduct, harassment, discrimination, or policy violations is protected activity.