Complaint alleges EMS mismanagement

Link to full complaint: https://www.grahamstar.com/local-news-newsletter/whistleblower-complaint-against-graham-county-ems-full

Fort Hill – A whistle blower complaint was filed against Graham County Emergency Services Director Phillip Boyle, one week before he was terminated by county commissioners on Jan. 14.

The complaint alleged payroll fraud, mismanagement of equipment and resources and even security of controlled substances, as well as age discrimination.

County Manager Jason Marino said Boyle’s termination was unrelated to the whistle blower complaint, but the person who filed the complaint – a former EMT who resigned under protest in December – said he believes it was.

The Graham Star obtained a copy of the complaint, filed by former Graham County EMT Steve Odom. When contacted by The Graham Star, Odom confirmed that he had filed the report and provided the following statement:

“I reported what I believed to be official misconduct and criminal activity to the Board of Commissioners,” said Odom. “Instead of receiving a thank you, I was threatened with prosecution if I revealed what I knew to the press. That’s just wrong, and a game changer for me. I will not be party to hiding information from the people!

“I sent it (the whistle blower complaint) to the Board of Commissioners 10-12 days ago. I felt they needed to know what was going on. It’s probably the only reason they fired him.”

Odom said he was contacted by Graham County Board of 

Commissioners Chairwoman Connie Orr after he filed the complaint and she assured him that “everything was going to be OK” and “not to worry.”

Forty-five minutes later, he said, County Attorney Jay Coward sent him the following email:

“Dear Mr. Odom: I have your ‘Whistle Blower Complaint’ and I have been asked to respond to it. Please be assured that the Commissioners and staff of Graham County are taking your allegations very seriously. They will be working on a resolution which will be beneficial to all of Graham County. Its culmination may take longer than the deadline you demand. So, please be advised of two things. First, you are not protected by the Whistleblower Statute. You were no longer an employee when you presented the complaint, and thus you forfeited its protection when you voluntarily resigned. Second, the Commissioners regard your complaint as a form of blackmail, so before you decide to go public with your complaint, you might consider that it will be simultaneously turned over to the District Attorney for prosecution, if you do.

“Again, the commissioners and staff are working on a satisfactory resolution which will occur in due time.”

Odom said he met with District Attorney Ashley Welch and Assistant District Attorney John Hindsman at the office in Franklin. He said both read the complaint and both stated that there was no basis for a blackmail claim, and that this was simply an ultimatum.

When contacted by The Graham Star, Coward replied that he had not been authorized to speak to the press. Commissioners Orr and Jacob Nelms said they could not comment about personnel issues. No other commissioner responded to requests for information.

When contacted, Marino did not state the reason of Boyle’s dismissal. Boyle, in an in-person visit to The Graham Star, acknowledged that he was terminated but provided no details.

“I am unable to discuss what is going on,” Boyle said at the time.

However, after reviewing the whistle blower complaint, Boyle responded with the following statement:

“As for the substance of Mr. Odom’s January 7, 2022 complaint, I categorically deny any wrongdoing and I am prepared to defend myself and my reputation from Mr. Odom’s false and misleading allegations and statements,” Boyle said. “Contrary to Mr. Odom’s defamatory and spurious allegations, as the Graham County Director of Emergency Services, I never engaged in any unlawful activities nor unsafe or unsound practices.”

County Manager Marino hired Boyle on Sept. 30 over five other candidates. The hiring did not require approval from the Graham County Board of Commissioners, according to previous news coverage.

Boyle had previously served as emergency preparedness coordinator for the S.C. Emergency Management Division. He had served in other emergency medical services and emergency management positions in South Carolina, Alaska, and North Dakota.

EMS Capt. Brian Stevens is serving as interim emergency services director while the county sorts things out.

Previous long-time director Larry Hembree resigned in August 2021, effective Sept. 30, 2021. Boyle was hired on Hembree’s last day, with his start date on Monday, Oct. 4.

When it started

Here are some key points raised in Odom’s whistle blower complaint to the Graham County Board of Commissioners:

“For several days I have been struggling with a tough decision as to whether or not I should file this Whistle Blower Complaint,” Odom wrote in a letter to the Graham County Board of Commissioners. “One part of me wants to take the information I have gathered since director Boyle took over Graham County EMS straight to the press, state and federal regulators and more importantly to the taxpayers who are suffering the greatest loss. Another part of me says I should give your Board one last chance to send this guy packing. Personally, the way I was treated and the way I’ve seen others treated and the fleecing this County is currently undergoing under his management, I will not be satisfied with nothing less than his immediate dismissal.”

Odom resigned from Graham County Emergency Medical Services on Dec. 22, 2021.

“… As you very well know things changed at EMS,” he wrote. “The organizational changes were needed, but what came with director Phillip Boyle has been nothing short of a disaster. The things I have witnessed and have firsthand knowledge of are nothing short of appalling and will make the average taxpayer furious.

“Some of you might say I am a disgruntled former employee; nothing could be farther from the truth. Am I angry, yes, I am! Not that I resigned my job, but because our wonderful and beloved EMS Service is being destroyed, thousands of dollars are being wasted and County employees are being treated like dirt.”

Odom gave the board until 5 p.m. Jan. 12, 2022, to call a special meeting and take action or he would release his report to state and federal agencies as well as the media.

Boyle was dismissed by the board on Jan. 14.

Odom alleged that County Manager Marino, who hired Boyle, has “condoned and promoted everything this director has done. After what I have seen, I have no use for him anymore either, he has proven himself to be part of the problem. Each of you are responsible for what happens in Graham County Government, the Buck Stops with the Board of Commissioners period.”

“My job is gone, I know I will never work for Graham County again,” Odom wrote. “But make no mistake about it, I have never been more determined or resolute in my life to make this right. I will not under any circumstances stand by and see this done to our EMS Service and watch the county taxpayers fleeced by this director. You need to get this right the next time and I definitely would not trust this decision to this county manager or some county office pool to decide who is best for this job. That’s what people voted you into office to do, you are responsible.”

Odom wrote that newly hired Director Phillip Boyle took over at Graham County EMS on Oct. 18, 2021.

“While I was optimistic our agency was going to be OK, I quickly changed my mind,” he said, giving examples of what he called “ethical and professional misconduct.”   

The first day all employees were called into a meeting, where director Boyle introduced himself to the employees. His words to us were he wanted EMS to be like a family and to build camaraderie among the employees. He then stated that he wanted to quiet rumors that he was going to take over the Fire Department and Rescue Squad. It’s important to note that later that night, director Boyle went to the local Rescue Squad/Fire Department meeting to express the same.

“On October 18 and 19: Director Boyle then had at least three employees come to his office where they were asked to write out statements or complaints against two other employees who were not present to defend themselves. Employees he knew nothing about and had not been around at all to form an opinion or evaluate their performance(s). I was asked to write out statements by one of the complaining employees and flatly refused to do so. I don’t work that way.

“On the morning of October 20: When the two employees arrived at work they were blindsided with a host of complaints, all of which had not been investigated or proven and told there would be some changes taking place with respect to their employment. The charges director Boyle made, with limited information, was so harsh, the two employees resigned and left immediately. Like me, their hearts were broken at how this man treated them. Graham County immediately lost two great employees, who had likewise dedicated their life to helping our citizens over concocted rumors) and speculation.

“It was clear that director Boyle’s idea of a family atmosphere and camaraderie among employees was out the window in less than three days, when he had already pitted his employees against one another and lost two experienced employees in the process. It was at this point I started taking notes.”

Payroll fraud alleged

On Dec. 27, 2021, Odom met with a Graham County sheriff’s investigator about possible payroll fraud within Graham County EMS.

Odom said he had information concerning an employee falsifying time sheets and that Boyle knew about it. The employee was working for a neighboring county and was billing for hours in Graham County that she could not have worked, Odom alleged.

“… She was doing this with the blessing of director Boyle as he had full knowledge that she was working in Cherokee County on the day prior to her shift in Graham County. I know from my employment that all employees are supposed to sign their time sheets affirming them as true and correct and that the director is also supposed to sign them as well attesting to their accuracy.”

Odom said he notified County Commissioner Jacob Nelms about the possible payroll fraud at Graham County EMS.

Odom turned over the information to the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Jerry Crisp confirmed. Crisp contacted the district attorney’s office, which replied that since the county was the victim in the case, a formal request for an investigation would have to come from Graham County.

Crisp said the Board of Commissioners was going to take up the issue in closed session during a special called meeting on Jan. 24 to determine whether the allegation would be handled as a criminal complaint or as a personnel matter.

The board met in closed session on Jan. 24, after which they reconvened in open session and ended the meeting without comment about any action taken.

Controlled substances

File cabinets that were taken out of an office and moved to the EMS bays contained two lock boxes full of Drug Enforcement Agency-egulated narcotics, Odom alleged.

“These narcotics are required to be secured in two locked cabinets and in most cases a safe,” he wrote. “They were left unattended, in the EMS bays in an open file cabinet for about three weeks. Anyone could have walked in, in the middle of the night and taken them.”

He said the drugs included Fentanyl, morphine and dangerous paralytic drugs used to intubate patients — “very dangerous, deadly narcotics left unguarded for weeks by director Boyle who was responsible for their safe keeping as

director of EMS.”

Odom said he later watched as Boyle came searching and discovered the unsecured drugs and carried the two lock boxes back into his office.

“Should the DEA be informed of this, no question, the license to keep and store these drugs for the paramedic service would be revoked immediately and most likely permanently,” Odom wrote, alleging that it “shows irresponsible and reckless behavior on his part. Can you imagine if these had been stolen, hit the street and people died? You can’t buy enough insurance for a scenario such as that.”

Pay disparity

Odom learned that a co-worker hired by Boyle on Nov. 1, 2021, who was also an advanced EMT, was making $18 per hour compared to the $16.64 that he was being paid. Odom had been hired in 2019.

Odom said the 29-year-old female employee was being paid at a rate that would normally apply to a 25-plus year employee, which he claimed was discrimination and out of line with county policy.

The next morning Boyle called him into his office and gave reprimanded him for not following the chain of command. Boyle said the 29-year-old EMT was paid more because she had degrees. Odom said her degrees did not allow her to exceed her scope of practice “and when we were in the back of an ambulance, we were on the same playing field. That I disagreed with his decision.”

On Dec. 10, 2021, Odom filed a wage dispute with his shift captain, following his chain of command. The captain forwarded it to Boyle stating it was a personnel matter and not related to daily operations.

He said the classification of Advanced MT has the same job description, basic requirements and is equal in scope and practice as set forth by the State of North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services. The N.C. Office of Emergency Medical Services does not offer different classifications of AMT. The single classification does not require a college degree, he said.

Alleging age discrimination, Odom, who is over 40 years of age, requested a raise to $18 per hour retroactive to mid-November, along with back pay and that he not be penalized, retaliated against or targeted in any way for being forced to take this action.

“If it is not settled after exhausting all county level appeals, then I will have no other choice but to seek a civil remedy in Federal Court, which I would like to avoid if at all possible,” he said in his complaint.

On Dec. 14, Boyle called a meeting with C-Shift employees and explained how he personally determined what an employee would be paid. “He explanation was somewhat confusing and lacked consistency,” Odom write. “It was like he would pay you whatever he wanted to.”

On Dec. 20, 2021, Odom emailed Boyle about his complaint.

“Please know that I am doing my very best to follow your directive of following the chain of command by sending this email directly to you,” Odom wrote to Boyle. “I thought in kind, I would receive a written reply to let me know the status of my complaint, but that never happened. I have recently been made aware of a potential conflict of interest, one which I do not wish to discuss it at this time outside of an attorney. That and the fact we have not been able to agree on this pay issue, I am respectively requesting that my complaint or grievance and the additional items listed below be advanced to the county manager, the next in line in the chain of command. I feel like this is causing friction between us and I don’t want that on the job.”

Boyle responded in an email on Dec. 21 repeating his reasoning without addressing adequately his claim of discrimination. “The last paragraph in his reply lodged a complaint against me by a fellow employee(s) that was bizarre, baseless, and untrue,” Odom wrote. “This had me wondering if I was indeed becoming the next victim of retaliation, by using co-workers to write out or make unfounded claims, hence what happened the first week director Boyle was in office.”

Later that day, Odom received a call from a coworker who had seen Boyle having workers sitting in his office writing out statements against Odom.

“My co-worker was concerned I was being setup like the other two employees were during the first week of director Boyle’s reign,” Odom wrote.

Later that day, Odom received a message from Boyle requiring me to attend a Pre-Disciplinary Hearing the next morning at the EMS Base where he, the County Manager, County Human Resources Officer and the EMS captain would be in attendance.

“I knew then he was out to get me; it was a clear a crystal at this point,” Odom wrote.

Odom appeared at the meeting, where he said Boyle had a document that alleged Odom made statements against him. Odom was not allowed to see the document.

“He (Boyle) asked me if the charges he was making against me was true and without seeing what he had in hand, I said no,” Odom wrote. “He then called me a liar (again) and told me to wait outside the door. When he called me back in, he advised me I was being suspended for two weeks, I don’t remember if he said with or without pay, it didn’t really matter at that point to me.”

Odom went home and discussed what had happened with his wife.

“It was clear the county was going along with his reign of terror,” Odom wrote. “We discussed that fact that I would never see a minute’s peace as long as director Boyle was in charge and had the backing of this administration, that the impact it was having not only on my health, but that of my wife who is disabled, that was the job worth it? At the end of our conversation, we came to the conclusion it wasn’t. It was at this point I sent my resignation to the director of Human Resources.”

Odom said he resigned because “unfounded accusations were being made against me. I was not being given an opportunity to defend myself. The County Government was not going to do anything whatsoever to stop this harassment and retaliation. Hidden evidence, undisclosed sources, pitting my fellow co-workers against me, I knew I was being retaliated against and there wasn’t one thing I could do about it when the county manager sat there and allowed it to happen.”

Personal use of vehicle

Odom alleged that Boyle took the county-owned emergency services pickup to Columbia, S.C., his previous residence, to move personal belongings, violating state law and county policy.

Free-spending

“Director Boyle was proud of the fact County Finance Officer referred to herself as his personal ATM,” Odom wrote. “I don’t think this should make someone proud, I don’t think that boastfulness and proud feeling would make County taxpayers happy either, in fact I know it won’t.”

Youth driving ambulance

On Nov. 12, 2021, while Odom was off-duty, his pager kept going off following a serious head-on collision on N.C. Highway 28 near Deals Gap. The county was out of front-line ambulances and was needing another brought to the scene to deal with multiple patients.

Odom said he got out of bed and went to the base where he met a part-time basic EMT. They got the key for an older truck at the base (unit 511), which had bad brakes and had been stripped and was “a junked-up mess and in disarray. But, due to the nature of the multi-injury call, we took the truck and responded.”

As they neared the scene, they met unit 512 which had two patients onboard, en route to a landing zone at the bottom of Tapoco Dam. It was being driven by a 16-year-old junior fire department member who was not authorized to drive emergency vehicles due to his age and inexperience.

“He had been placed under the wheel by director Boyle who was on scene, talking on his radio and told to drive to the landing zone,” Odom wrote. “This was in strict violation of the terms of the county’s Insurance Policy and placed the county in an unfathomable liability situation should this child have had an accident, with two patients onboard.”

Misspent resources

“Multiple thousands of dollars thrown away and discarded for no reason whatsoever,” Odom wrote. “A good manager and someone with some common sense could save the county $250,000 a year minimum or more on day one, guaranteed. Director Boyle has seven employees hired, doing what one man used to do by himself. He is a great delegator, but extremely poor manager and it’s costing the taxpayers a fortune.”

On Jan. 22, Boyle activated the Emergency Operations Center for Graham County based on a forecast of 4-6 inches of snow, “a typical weather event that occurs in Graham County every winter.”

“The operations center was open more than 24 hours and cost Graham County Taxpayers an untold amount of money,” Odom wrote. “I have requested public reports detailing the cost, but County Manager Jason Marino has not responded to my request in any manner for public records.

“There was no County, State or Federal state of emergency declarations issued. There will be no refunds for the cost of this activation. Any claims that the cost can be recouped are just smoke and mirrors. Sixteen downed trees in a 24-hour period does not met the criteria of a disaster by any stretch of the imagination,” he wrote.

“Director Boyle doesn’t believe that local Resident Volunteers, Fire Departments, Rescue Squad, NCDOT Crews, Duke Energy Crews, all Graham County Residents have enough sense to get through a typical snowstorm. Bottom line, he has to be in charge, control every aspect of life in Graham County. We were taking care of our county long before he came and will be long after he is gone.”

Souring relations

On Dec. 9, Odom, a lieutenant and representative of the Meadow Branch Fire Department, attended a meeting at the Graham County EMS Training Room between representatives of the Graham County Volunteer Departments, all four stations and Stecoah Fire Department, as well as Graham County commissioners (except Dale Wiggins), the County Manager, County Clerk, Director of Communication, Director of Emergency Medical Services and Emergency Management, and EMS Captain William Allen Rogers.

The unofficial meeting was an attempt to patch up the relationship between the fire departments and Boyle, Odom said.

“He had been attempting to exert authority over the fire departments, take control of scenes that were typically handled by and under the authority of the fire departments, etc. During the meeting it was revealed that director Boyle had contacted the North Carolina State Fire Marshal’s Office and alluded that Graham County Fire Departments were out of compliance. This had County Fire Chief Keith Eller and Stecoah Fire Chief Lynn Cody irate, stating that it simply was not true. Things got so heated, as you well know, Stecoah Fire Chief Lynn Cody got up and stormed out of the meeting.

“Every time an officer of the fire department tried to find middle ground with him (Boyle), he kept producing reasons why he should be involved in the fire departments business.

“Director Boyle in the span of one month managed to alienate every single fire department, as well as the rescue squads and their memberships in Graham County. Efforts to resolve the rift have failed dramatically and in speaking to many of them and their families, they will never have anything to do with this director. There is just too much bad blood. That is bad for EMS and bad for the citizens of this county and it was all due to director Boyle’s arrogant and over-bearing actions."

Truck out of service

During his first week on the job, Boyle had the department’s third call truck (unit 510) stripped down to an empty box and taken out of service. All of the contents, including the medications, were strewn all over the EMS bay. “I expressed my concerns about only having two frontline trucks when we often had three or four calls at any given time. I was told that we would only be using two trucks from this point forward, which was very troubling to me knowing our call volume was often such that we needed four trucks ready to go at all times.”

Defective truck

Odom and his partner were assigned to unit 513, which they soon learned had brakes badly in need of service, “grinding metal to metal.” He said he told Boyle but was instructed to drive the truck anyway.

“This is a violation of multiple sections of the Graham County Safety Policy, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations, as well as USDOT - Federal Highway Safety Administration Regulations and NCOEMS regulations. Every trip we made was the same, metal grinding on metal,” he wrote.

“Our next shift, I again brought the brakes to director Boyle’s attention, and he told me I was lying that he had the truck checked out by Billy Hyde and Frank Cline and it was fine to drive,” he wrote. “A couple runs later (early the next morning) we had a very serious call and that patient had to be transported to Sylva. As I approached the intersection at Almond, and I started braking well in advance of the intersection knowing the condition of the brakes, the truck proceeded through the stop sign with the front half sticking out into oncoming traffic. It would not stop! Fortunately, this was our last run for the shift.”

When he returned to base, he asked Boyle to drive the truck. “He did and never got out of the parking lot with it when he stopped and then asked someone else to follow him to the county garage,” Odom wrote.

When the county mechanic (Keith Eller, who is also a county commissioner) took the wheel off the truck, “what was left of the brakes fell out on the ground, even before removing the brake caliper. What had fallen out was dust and the metal backing plate the pads used to be attached to. Not only my partner and I, but every patient we hauled with the brakes in that condition, placed all of us in extreme danger, much less violated several state and federal laws and violated the county’s Safety Policy,” he wrote.

Takeover of services

Odom alleged that Boyle wanted to move the fire trucks out of the building, build a second floor, make renovations and acquire rescue trucks for EMS. Odom said Boyle was putting locks on all the outside doors including the doors to the fire department.

Rescue has been a function that has been managed by the local rescue squad and fire departments since their inception, Odom said.

“It was becoming increasingly clear to me that his intentions were indeed to take over all function of the fire departments and rescue squad, that he wanted and wants total control of everything,” Odom wrote. “As a member of the Volunteer Fire Department, I had and have a real problem with this.”

Chaos

As the week went on, supplies were removed from storage rooms and other ambulances, offices stripped, and file cabinets emptied and moved to the bays, Odom wrote. “I watched as multiple thousands of dollars of equipment and supplies, and medicines were discarded and thrown away. Many of the high-dollar medications that were discarded or destroyed were done so because those people he had stripping and cleaning out were looking incorrectly at the dates on the products. Instead of looking at the expiration date, they were looking at the manufactured date and in doing so assumed they were expired and discarded. This cost the county a small fortune.”

By the end, the EMS supply room was almost empty and most basic supplies and medications were missing, he wrote.

“A lot of the medications we needed to restock our ambulances were gone and not available to replace. I heard one career employee state that they figured $25,000 to $30,000 worth of medicines and supplies had been thrown away for no reason,” he wrote.

Lack of available equipment

On Nov. 5, 2021, one of two remaining ambulances was in the shop, leaving them with one ambulance. With that truck out on a call, a second call arrived and Odom and his partner were forced to use unit 510, the stripped-down vehicle that had been take out of service.

The two threw a jump bag and a cardiac monitor into the ambulance, but it was “no doubt out of state compliance and not legal for use,” he wrote, “but because of the mess in the EMS bays that had been created at director Boyle’s direction, we did not have a choice. Had this been reported to the state office of emergency medical services at the time, I feel certain the county would have faced serious legal problems. Had the patient died because of inadequate supplies or medicines, due to an out-of-compliance ambulance, then the Graham County would have faced massive lawsuits due to negligence.”

Boyle as an EMT

Odom cited several examples where Boyle, himself a licensed EMT, did not step in to render aid when he could have.

In one case where he did, he “dropped the needle, leaving it hanging in the patients arm, came around behind me stepping on the bench in the ambulance and as he went out the door said take care of that,” Odom wrote. “One of the most unprofessional, unethical moves I had ever witnessed by a medical professional, abandoning a patient upon initiating a medical procedure and prior to its completion.”

In another call, Odom alleged that Boyle initiated contact with the 3-year-old having difficulty breathing and initiated patient care, but handed off to a basic EMT to ride with the patient, “a violation of state protocol. A credentialed EMS provider cannot transfer care to someone with a lesser certification or credentials. That is considered abandonment and is a criminal offense.”

“For a paramedic to transfer care of a 3-year-old with breathing difficulties to a basic EMT for transport and then have the county manager drive the ambulance, someone who had no EMS credentials, experience or training and would be of no assistance should the young patient go into respiratory distress or even worse respiratory arrest,” Odom wrote. “This in itself should have been grounds for immediate dismissal and a report filed with NCOEMS (North Carolina Office of EMS). This also put the county in a position of severe liability had the patient’s condition worsened or even died as a result of having been abandoned by a trained paramedic, the director of EMS, nonetheless.”

EMTs, officers

During a Christmas dinner on Dec. 14, Odom and others overheard Boyle say that EMS needed sworn law enforcement officers to “secure the scenes” when the sheriff’s department was busy.

“We were caught off guard by these statements, but it was clear he was very serious,” Odom wrote. “We said to each other, now he wants to take over county law enforcement as well. One of the advantages EMS employees have are that they are neutral in situations of conflict. Criminal, assailants, victims of crime, all trust EMS to help them. Even if it were possible, pinning a badge and gun on an EMS employee is a terrible idea and one that could ultimately make them a target. Just another example of the idiocy of this director and his goal of taking control of every county agency.

“It’s all about power to him.”