Whistleblower lawsuit: NJ nurse reports government corruption, then is fired

A state nurse tried to raise the alarm about her supervisor's misconduct, but her warnings "fell on deaf ears" and she eventually was fired, she claims in a lawsuit.

Years after Sandra Surujballi claims she reported government corruption to officials in the Division of Disability Services, her supervisor, Wanda Harvey, pleaded guilty in federal court to taking bribes in connection to her public office. 

Surujballi was responsible for reviewing home health care services funded by taxpayers, according to her attorney, Matthew A. Luber.

Surujballi’s lawsuit, filed Thursday in Mercer County, claims that she noticed “suspicious conduct” dating back to 2012 by Harvey, who later became Surujballi’s supervisor. Surujballi is seeking to be paid for damages, lost wages and attorneys fees.

The lawsuit is posted at the bottom of this story.

Surujballi noticed Harvey altered claims for home health care services, boosting revenue for certain agencies, according to the lawsuit. Surujballi believed Harvey did this in exchange for kickbacks, the lawsuit claims.

Harvey pleaded guilty in January to a federal criminal charge that accused her of taking $2,600 in bribes in a health care kickback scheme dating back to February 2016. The distinction between a criminal complaint and civil claim is described in the video above.

Background: NJ employee admits taking bribes to arrange home health care for disabled

Surujballi was fired from her job, according to her lawsuit.

But Harvey was allowed to retire.

"Ms. Harvey retired from the Department as of December 31st,"  Tom Hester, spokesperson for the Department of Human Services, wrote in an email. The Department of Human Services oversees the Division of Disability Services.

Harvey’s retirement came two months after Harvey signed the plea agreement with prosecutors relating to her bribery charge, a federal court document shows. Harvey formally pleaded guilty in federal court nine days after her retirement.

The attorney who represented Harvey in federal court couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Hester said the department can't comment on pending litigation.

Surujballi’s lawsuit describes her attempts before her firing to notify multiple officials in the Division of Disability Services of her suspicions about Harvey.

“(Surujballi) repeatedly reported her concerns to upper management, which fell on deaf ears time and time again,” the lawsuit claims.

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Surujballi’s lawsuit claims her whistleblowing was revealed to Harvey, after which Harvey screamed at her.

The lawsuit claims Surujballi met with an interim director of the Division of Disability Services and said she wouldn’t work with Harvey because Harvey was “corrupt.” She asked to be transferred to avoid Harvey, but her request was denied.

About a month after Harvey was promoted to be Surujballi’s supervisor, Surujballi was asked to resign or get fired, the suit claims.

Surujballi later went through disciplinary proceedings — her employer accused her of carelessness, insubordination, discourtesy and conduct unbecoming a state employee.

She was given the option to resign instead of being fired.

She refused and was fired.

Her attorney said her conduct was not improper.

“She did the right thing, which was to report her supervisor for engaging in misconduct and for refusing to assist somebody who was engaging in misconduct,” said Matthew Luber. “And any notion that our client did something wrong or was insubordinate or was careless in her job is what we refer to as pretext. Something to hide the fact that they were retaliating against her. They drummed up charges to get her out of there.”

Andrew Ford: @AndrewFordNews; 732-643-4281; aford3@gannettnj.com