[A] psychologist who was recently fired by the state is denying allegations brought by the Office of Professional Regulation.
Investigators for OPR allege that Dr. Charles Simonds created a hostile environment at his previous workplace through a pattern of intimidation, verbal abuse and sexual harassment.
Simonds was the clinical director for Maple Leaf Treatment Associates Inc., from May 2016 until the company closed unexpectedly in February, leaving state officials scrambling to fill the void left in drug treatment services.
He faces a total of 11 charges of professional misconduct, including ethical violations and failure to practice competently, in addition to the harassment and abuse allegations. The charges could result in his psychologist license being suspended or revoked.
Simonds went to work in October for the state Department for Children and Families but was fired in November after VTDigger raised questions about his employment at Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center.
Simonds’ attorney, Rich Cassidy, filed a response to the OPR charges Thursday denying the allegations and presenting several defenses. Among his arguments were that the charges are “so vague, numerous, and lacking in specificity,” that they amounted to denying Simonds his constitutional right to due process.
In the charges, the Office of Professional Regulation says staff reported Simonds would comment on female patients’ appearance, including remarks such as “you are a sexy redhead” and “you’re my type of woman.”
The charges allege Simonds exhibited “favoritism” toward female patients, pulling them aside to ask if there was anything he could do for them — attention that he never gave male patients.
Simonds, who worked at Maple Leaf’s inpatient facility in Underhill, allegedly would tell women in the residential treatment program “not to worry and that he would take care of them” by getting them a place in Maple Leaf’s outpatient medication-assisted treatment program in Colchester, known as the Bridge.
He made good on those promises, according to the charges, bypassing “criteria and waitlists for treatment” to secure places for “young women” in the Bridge program, sometimes without consideration for their progress in the residential program.
Simonds derided other patients to staff, referring to them as “tweakers” in some cases, according to the charges. He also allegedly told a female patient, “You look like a whore.”
Simonds was also abusive toward staff, calling them “dicks,” “monkeys,” “retarded” and “fat and lazy” and screaming profanities at them, according to the charges.
One former Maple Leaf employee told OPR investigators that Simonds shouted at them something to the effect of, “Do you think I’m just here to swing my big dick around?” and “I don’t want to have to but I’ll take my big dick out and swing it around.”
Simonds further made comments about the appearance of female staffers he found attractive, according to the charges, letting them know he found them appealing and telling them to “smile.”
Cassidy also argues that the state’s Adult Protective Services division “has already investigated these charges to the extent they relate to clients at Maple Leaf Treatment Center and determined that they are without merit.”
VTDigger was not able to confirm Cassidy’s claim. Adult Protective Services Director Clayton Clark said state law prevents him from confirming or denying an investigation by his division.
“What I can tell you is that we do not issue statements indicating that charges are without merit,” Clayton said. “We would never issue a statement saying that charges are without merit.”
When APS investigates complaints, its findings state that, based on the evidence uncovered in an investigation, the allegations in the complaint were either substantiated or unsubstantiated, Clark said.
The Division of Licensure and Protection, which regulates health care facilities — and of which APS is a subdivision — did investigate Maple Leaf in December 2016.
That investigation uncovered allegations similar to those brought by the Office of Professional Regulation against Simonds’ license, though it doesn’t indicate if those allegations were substantiated or whether they have merit, and it does not mention Simonds by name.
However, the Division of Licensure and Protection report does state that allegations of Maple Leaf clients being mistreated by a staff member were never reported to Adult Protective Services, which it said violates state requirements for reporting abuse or negligence.
Cassidy did not respond to a request for additional comment Friday. No hearing has been scheduled so far in Simonds professional conduct case.
