PHOENIX — A doctor who helped expose patient care problems at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Medical Center a decade ago is still waiting for the agency to fully pay him in an employment discrimination case.
Dr. Maher Huttam was a minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic surgeon for the VA from 2012 until he was terminated in 2013.
He said it was “impossible” to get a job afterward because the VA had fired him saying his “behavioral and professional traits have adversely affected patients, staff... and the reputation of the agency,” according to federal records.
Dr. Huttam said the VA gave a fake reason for his firing.
According to a federal judge’s ruling, Huttam said he was discriminated against by supervisors on the basis of his religion. He’s Muslim.
After he contacted an equal employment opportunity counselor for help, he said he was fired in reprisal for reporting unfair treatment.
Equal Employment Opportunity investigators spent years looking into Huttam’s claims. After a hearing, a federal administrative judge ruled in Huttam’s favor in 2018.
“I was exonerated, and that was proven through the EEOC proceedings,” Huttam said.
Despite his wrongful firing, Huttam said he continued to worry about veterans’ health care problems he said he witnessed inside the Phoenix VA Medical Center.
“Some unusual complications which could be preventable, like hernia,” Huttam said.
He became one of the public whistleblowers during the national VA patient care scandal, which resulted in new leadership and policy changes aimed at better serving veterans.
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Dr. Huttam was never rehired by the VA, but he was entitled to back pay, front pay and loss of future earnings, and other monetary damages, according to the judge’s 2018 ruling.
The VA did pay Huttam a seven-figure sum, according to records from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but the doctor claimed it was miscalculated.
In 2022, the EEOC issued a new order telling the VA to provide more documentation and additional payment.
More than two years later, Dr. Huttam said he still hasn’t received the money, so he’s blowing the whistle on the VA again.
“It's just shameful that they're trying to do this,” Huttam said. “They want me to go away, or they feel like maybe I'll have a heart attack and die and never follow up on this.”
When we asked the VA about what’s still owed to Huttam, a spokesperson said he couldn’t comment due to employee privacy issues.
The EEOC says it is still waiting to hear back from the VA on compliance with the 2022 order.
You can reach ABC15 Investigator Melissa Blasius by email at melissa.blasius@abc15.com or call 602-803-2506. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @MelissaBlasius or Facebook.
