25 September 2007

Witnesses Allegedly Bullied In DHHR Case

Public Broadcasting reports on allegations that the state Department of Health and Human Resources has intimidated witnesses not to testify in a discrimination case against DHHR.

(Update: The Charleston Gazette reported last week on the lawsuit and the alleged intimidation.)

The underlying lawsuit alleges people like Shawn Shumbera, a patient at the state-run Bateman Hospital in Huntington, have been wrongly barred from enrolling in a public program that would allow them to live on their own.

"The non-profit group Mountain State Justice says that DHHR officials routinely discriminate against people like Shumbera, who has been diagnosed as both mentally retarded and mentally ill," Public Broadcasting reports.

A lawyer for Shumbera alleges that a pair of Bateman staffers were willing to testify on Shambera's behalf -- until they were called in to a meeting with the hospital's CEO, a DHHR lawyer and other officials.

The witnesses now allegedly say they've changed their minds about Shumbera's case, and that they would not testify.

One of them allegedly said, "
you need to remember who signs my paycheck," Public Broadcasting reports.

A DHHR spokeswoman declined comment for the story, "
because of the lawsuit and because they don’t want to violate Shumbera’s privacy."

Public Broadcasting also offers the full text of the segment.

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