BRIAN HEINO - SHERIFF / CORONER : OUTH MAIN SuEEE STE 100, ane MONTANA 08/24/2021 : ae z S “To: Deputy Wendt ner u : Wee: cae ‘ CC: Undersheriff Dubois _ % : : ~ From: Sherif Brian Heino : : " an On August 12""| received and reviewed the Internal investigation in reference to a complaint received through the Flathead County Attorney Office. | reviewed the information and also concurred with ‘Undersheriff Dubos determination the incident is unfounded. This letter will be rioted in your file in case of further questions regarding this information since “it was released to public defender's office prior to finalization of investigation.» : aoe : oe - : Q : Brian-Heino” = yeu e Sheriff 10) ‘ Antogrity, Excellence, Service, PartnershipSHERIFF'S OFFICE FLATHEAD COUNTY BRIAN HEINO SHERIFF / CORONER 920 SOUTH MAIN STREET, STE 100, KALISPELL MONTANA, PHONE: 406-758-5585 FAX: 406-758-2420 TO: Deputy Travis Wendt FROM: — Undersheriff Wayne DuBois DATE: 7/29/2021 SUBJECT: Internal Investigation This memo serves as your notice to appear in my office for an interview relative to an Internal Investigation stemming from you actions and statements on or about5/26/2021. ‘The interview will be held at 1230 hours on 7/29/2021. In accordance with Department policy, please note the following: 1. Nature of Investigation: Possible violation of policy(s): N/A, Possible violation of the FCSO value of Integrity ‘This does not preclude the possibility of other violations surfacing in the course ofthe investigation Subject of Review: Possible values violation - non-criminal. Suspect Non-Criminal 3. Nature of Allegation: Deputy Wendt is alleged to have attempted to get Flathead County Human Resources representatives to apply incorrect dates on medical forms. 4. Representation: You are authorized to arrange to have a union representative present during the interview process, 5. Potential Discipline: Possible disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, may take place as result of the investigation. 6. Cooperation: Fai the matter under re Lo fully cooperate by truthfully answering all questions specifically and directly related to investigation and/or by providing investigators with all potentially relevant information will result in disciplinary action which may include termination of employment. 7. Witness: You have the right to name witnesses to be interviewed by the investigating officer. Those names should be provided at the time of our interview. 8. On Duty: The scheduled interview will take place during your regularly scheduled work shift 9. Officer In Charge: 10, Demeanor: The interview process will be devoid of intimidation coercion and shall not violate your constitutional rights. All parties will refrain from the use of profanity and abusive language and no promises of reward shall be made as a |, Undersheriff Wayne DuBois, am in charge of this investigation. iucement to answer questions. 1, Duration: The exact length of the interview is unknown, All parties will be awarded a ten minute break every hour if requested by an of the participating parties. 12, Scope: The interview will be limited in scope to the facts, circumstances and communications relating to actions and events that took place on or about 5/26/2021 13, Recording: This interview may be recorded if requested by the employee. ‘The interview may be recorded if requested by the supervisor/investigator, and it is agreed to by the subject employee. Ifthe interview is recorded, both parties shall receive a copy of the recording, 14, Notice: You have a right to advance notice of at least 48 hours that this interview will take place. The interview is scheduled for 7/29/2021 at 1230 hours. The interview will take place at the Flathead County Sheriff's Office. Your signature acknowledges that you have read this document, understand its contents, and understand that you are commanded to appear for an interview at the time and location listed above. Zz halo Travis Wendt 7/29/2024 Wayte DuBois 7/29/2021 Integrity, Excellence, Service, PartnershinINTERNAL INVESTIGATION 21-01 ‘Subject of investigation: Deputy Travis Wendt Introduction (On 06/9/21 1 became aware of a situation with Deputy Travis Wendt in which a complaint had been made from Flathead County Human Resources to the Flathead County Attorney alleging possible wrong doing in the form of dishonesty. Sheriff Brian Heino apprised me of the situation. Synopsis | was forwarded a document (Exhibit #A) from Sheriff Heino, which detailed the interaction between Deputy Wendt and HR Generalist Kristina Pagel, as well as the HR Director Tammy Skramovsky. After reviewing the document initially and based on the information | had at the time, it appeared Deputy Wendt missed a notification period for a qualifying event (birth of a child) for insurance. (REEBEingIEO) (Gedocument, eputy Wend (SSeBlhypOwHEticelqUESHIO to Kristina and Tammy about whether or not they could “just say” he made the notification. My initial observation was this could possibly amount toa values violation {BUETROUBREGRUCHIRGRE | aso learned from Sherif Heino that Tammy Skramovsky had contacted the County Attorney about this matter first and @GEGUEGHIEB as,tomy knowledge, the County Attorney has no mechanism to investigate any complaint against an employee of the Sheriffs Office. Additionally, evenifthey d ‘At that time, | also contacted Commander Buls and Sergeant Foster and discussed having Set. Cox conduct the investigation, and we agreed that would be appropriate. Initial contact with Sgt. Cox was approximately the 11° or the 14"of June, and was in person. At that time Sgt. Cox was going to be gone ‘on vacation starting the 15" and would not be back until the 30" of June. Sgt. Cox was also scheduled for vacation or off work from July 9" to July 20, During this time frame | further coordinated between Sgt. Cox and Sgt. Foster regarding the investigation, but we felt it would be ok for Sgt. Cox to get the interviews completed as soon as he returned to work on June 21%, based on what we knew of the allegation at the time. ‘Summary 07/07/21 —| received an email (Exhibit #8) from Travis Ahner about cases going to trial with Deputy Wendt as necessary witness In this email Tavs indeated his office would be required to disclose the My respons to tat email as well as Travis Ahner’s response to my response. At this time, it seemed this situation was becoming more serious from the standpoint (Gubstaitiatea eae) was being passed out to defense attorneys. e | was out of town for work from July 18" and returned on July 26. (BGR) FEXUFang I FoUnd RBERIAEIHEY 0 | took lead in the investigation so we could get it concluded and ‘make our findings on whether or not Deputy Wendt violated aw, policy, or our values. | intended to record all interviews if possible so as to make the investigation completely transparent with no misunderstanding about what anyone involved said.In reviewing the summation of events, | saw the situation started with contact from Deputy Wendt to HR Generalist Kristina Pagel. | arranged to meet with her on Tuesday, July 7°. 07/27/21 —1 met with Kristina in her office at HR for a recorded interview at 1303 hr. | asked Kristina if ‘could record the interview and she gave her permission. It should be noted on the recording | gave the date as July 7, the actual date was the 27", The time given was correct. Asin the typed statement from Kristina and Tammy, she confirmed Deputy Wendt contacted HR via phone on 05/26/21 to get his new born child added to the insurance. Under the Flathead County Summary Plan Description, this falls under the “Special Enrollment Period” as a “Special Enrollment Request” for a qualifying event which ‘creates “special enrollment rights.” The birth of a child qualifies as one of these events per the plan description. This is detailed on page 57 of the plan description under “SPECIAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD” 1(8)-a copy of which is included (Exhibit #C). The requirements for this come in two stages. First, the ‘employee must make a “special enrollment request, verbally or in writing, to the Flathead County Human Resources Office within thirty (30) days of any special enrollment event.” Second, “..application for such coverage is made on the Plan's enrollment form and submitted to the Flathead County Human Resources Office within sixty (60) days of the event. Kristina was advised by Deputy Wendt was 3 days late with the initial notification to HR, which she advised him of. Kristina advised Deputy Wendt they ‘could not get the child insured from the date of birth because he missed the notification period, however, it was the current “OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD” which would get his new born added on July 1, 2021. Deputy Wendt was upset by this, and according to Kristina he was not “disrespectful to me he was venting...” She explained it was a policy the county had to abide by. Deputy Wendt advised Kristina he was going to contact Allegiance (Flathead County's insurance Carrier) to “fight that”, to which she responded, “...well, you certainly can do that, I don’t think it’s going to matter because Allegiance only does according to our policy, they don’t actually make the decisions for us they just implement the rules ‘based on our policy.” The phone called concluded with Kristina telling Deputy Wendt she would email him the county summary plan, which she did. Travis called back the following day (5/27/21) and was asking why he could not enroll his child for Insurance because the new enrollment form “Request for Enrollment Change” (Exhibit #0) indicated he needed to have that completed and turned into HR within 60 days to get his child covered from the time of birth. She told Deputy Wendt he didn’t have the option to do the notification or the completed form, it was a two-part process whereby the notification within the 30-day period was a requirement in addition to the completed form being turned in within 60 days. | asked what the purpose of the 30-day notification was and Kristina say it was, “just a notification period.... why the actual policy is in place? Probably not my expertise.” Deputy Wendt was still upset but not “disrespectful” so Kristina suggested he speak with Tammy Skramovsky about the matter. Kristina transferred the phone to Tammy's office ‘and both she and Tammy were present for the conversation, which was on speaker phone. NOTE ~In reviewing the “Request for Enrollment Change” form, there is no spot or section to put in a date the notification was given. There is simply an “Effective Date of Change” section. This part of the call started with giving Deputy Wendt options for getting his child covered. Tammy re explained to Deputy Wendt the relationship with Allegiance, then Deputy Wendt asked (WhAEIF Ina Tammy responded, , to which Deputy Wendt responded Tammy told Deputy Wendt it would have made adiference fhe had left avolce mal, Deputy Wendt @ then asked, “What if | had tried to do that?” (aimimySskedifREWIA, to which Deputy Wendt responded,7. Tammy then advised Deputy Wendt HR. . Kristina said that, “..jt seemed confusing hhe would think that.” When asked Kristina said Tammy did not ask Deputy Wendt what he meant by phone tree. She did advise when calling in to HR, the main line goes to her phone. (Cepiity Wench asked Ca VOU JUSESAY NGIe/AIENAER”, to which Tammy responded, "No we can't say that because that would be lying and this is an official document that is important and we don't do that..we don't back date documents, we don’t say people said they did things when they didn’t, we just don’t do that, that would be fying.” She did not remember how Deputy Wendt responded, or if he did at all. Deputy Wendt wanted to file some “paperwork” to try and do it on his own with Allegiance. The next day Tammy reminded Kristina to send the document to Travis to see ifit “helped at all.” That email (Exhibit #2) is included with this investigation. | asked kristina if Deputy Wendt threatened anyone or used the color of his office to try to get them to do anything, Kristina responded, “No, no, he didn’t. He just asked us if we could say he did...can’t you say that I did?" | asked her if he directed them to violate a policy, or if any policy was violated to her knowledge. Kristina confirmed he only asked questions and she didn’t believe any policy was violated. She said he just asked them to do something that wasn’t on the “up and up” and asked them to overlook the policy. Kristina confirmed HR’s knowledge of Deputy Wendt being on FMLA and we discussed the reasons whey being on FMLA in an of itself does not constitute a notification for special enrollment request. | also asked if there was any latitude with backdating any forms at all, and she told me not that she was aware of, other than some FMLA forms which is a normal procedure. | also asked Kristina if she had ever back dated any forms since working in Flathead County HR and she essentially said no, or did not recall doing that knowingly. | asked if she was aware of anyone in HR ever doing that and she said no. | then asked Kristin if Allegiance went by our policy and she told me her understanding was, “...they implement the policies we have in place...they do them along the guidelines we provide...” She also said they can’t do ‘things apart from our guidelines/policy. | asked Kristin a hypothetical question about Allegiance and whether or not they would accept our paperwork for Deputy Wendt if we said the notification was ‘made within the required dates/time frame for notification and she responded, “They would if we did would accept what we did | am sure. They are tr the authority in t! Kristina confirmed the conversation with Deputy Wendt was not recorded in any fashion, it was not verbatim, and it was her recollection of the conversation as close as she could remember. asked her if she knew how Travis Ahner was notified about this situation, but she did not know and thought it was Tammy that handled that. Kristina also confirmed she had not emailed or talked to anyone about this with anything material to the investigation and she didn’t believe there was any additional persons, at least to her knowledge, that had any information material to the investigation. concluded the interview at 1327 hr. contacted Tammy Skramovsky about an interview and we were also able to do that on 7/27/21. 07/27/21 - At 1453 hr | met with Tammy Skramovsky in her office for the interview, and she granted permission for me to record the interview. Tammy told me Deputy Wendt talked with Kristina initially and Kristina let Tammy know he was very upset about not being able to get his new born covered with“insurance, The next day (5/27/21) Deputy Wendt called again and Kristina joined Tammy in her office with Deputy Wendt on speaker phone. ‘Tammy said one of the things that stuck out to her was when Deputy ‘Wendt talked to Kristina the first day it was like, ”...what if this and what if that...and then when he talked to me on the phone it was like, | called on Friday.” She went on to say she could tell if anyone called because of HR’s phone logs and Mitel phone system. She then asked him if he left a voice mail and he said no. to ly ind then he was talking about, um, just backdating the forms and it was like/@hat Sa ieWe (@GREElie) And, um, so the way he was phrasing it, um, it wasn’t the like initially the day before it was, ‘what if this what if that. With me I don’t think he knew she [Kristina] was sitting here | don’t think he knew she had given me a heads up we had someone angry, and so he was phrasing everything as if happened on all the what if scenarios that he ran by her so it’s like: ‘Tammy also told me Deputy Wendt wanted the document (Request for Enrollment Change) because he wanted to go to Allegiance and essentially around HR. She also said, “..Allegiance is our third-party administrator...so we hire Allegiance, even though we own our health insurance plan Allegiance is the ‘company that follows the summary plan description book..they can’t break the rules because they don’t ‘own the plan.” She also confirmed the “rules” of the plan is our (Flathead County) policy. ‘Tammy said Deputy Wendt wanted the form to fill out to “take his chances” which she acknowledged ‘were her words. She also said she fully expected to get @ completed form filled out by him that was backdated, and that was the impression he left on her when he got off the phone. | then asked, in an attempt to clarify, if she recalled whether or not Deputy Wendt said "..what if he had tried to call.” in reference to his question about calling in to HR and getting the phone tree. Tammy stated Deputy Wendt said (@[Efied tO ealOnIPrdays” Tammy then said he might have said “what if’ later in the story and it was “all over the place.” | told her what was actually said and the sequence of the ‘words was very important. | told Tammy Kristina told me Deputy Wendt said he had not left a message when Tammy asked him if he called and left a message and she responded, “After we got through the part about, yeah, that was all, you know.” | asked Tammy if she asked had asked Deputy Wendt any questions about what he meant by “phone tree” but she had not. | asked Tammy if there was anything else regarding the phone call and she said | had the gist of their conversation. She also confirmed the phone call was not recorded in any way. | asked Tammy what the reason for the 30-day notification was, and she said it had been that way since she had been here, nearly two decades, it had been through scrutiny and “it was just the way it worked.” Tammy also told me she didn’t know “how long legally that time frame can be...” but she knew it was legal. | also clarified with Tammy what | meant by backdating and asked her if HR had any latitude with the policy, and any HR paperwork or medical stuff in terms of backdating. She said “no” but it was a complicated issue. | used Deputy Wendt’s circumstances as an example and asked Tammy if shebackdated his 30-day notification period if that would be breaking the law. | confirmed with her the notification period is our policy and Allegiance has to go by our policy, which is the summary plan description book, which she confirmed saying is ”..the rules around our health insurance plai | then asked if she had ever backdated any insurance form for any Flathead employee and she told me she had not, with any insurance form. She went on to explain she uses a spreadsheet to track the dates When people notify her of a qualifying event, and she can confirm when people callin, if they notify via a voice message, through the Mitel system. | asked Tammy how long she had worked at Flathead HR and she said she had worked at Flathead HR for 17 years. | asked her if she was aware during her time of employment if anyone in HR has backdated a form, or a process involved, or a person passed the time, was granted the insurance. She told me she was not aware of anyone backdating a form to get insurance, the process was the spreadsheet, and anything beyond that is out of her control. I then asked her plainly if she was aware of any employee that passed the 30-day notification period with a baby being born, but ended up getting coverage on our health insurance plan and she responded, “They did not get coverage on our health insurance plan.” | then said, “So that's never happened to your knowledge?” Tammy responded, “Not on our health insurance plan.” | also asked about an employee in a similar situation and asked her if she could back date a form and she told me, “No...'ve never had someone ask me to lie for them, that’s why this one ‘was a level up...” | asked Tammy if Deputy Wendt threatened her or Kristina or use the color of his office or direct her to violate the policy or put the date down and she said he had not. ‘Tammy sald she then called Tara [Fugina] because she goes through Tara for employee issues. In this case she had a “Tara list” of issues to talk to her about so she added this to the list and she was still “..in shock. iis ads Weputyyask me tojinla\nutshelliefOrhim” She seid she was wondering if she ‘would see the form they sent to Deputy Wendt, but it was never forwarded to them. | asked Tammy if Travis Ahner got ahold of her about this matter after she talked to Tara and she said he did, via phone and email. She said Travis wanted Tammy to talk to Brian “first” about it and he wanted to talk to Brian about it as well. Travis gave her a short time frame to get ahold of Brian, so she reached to him on with a phone call. Tammy then contacted Travis again to let him know that was done. | showed Tammy the document written by Kristina which had been sent to Travis and asked her who directed the written document be completed and sent to Travis and she said she couldn’t remember “.if Travis asked me for it or if Tara asked me for it...” Tammy could not remember if that direction came during a phone call or via email. Tammy told me she had Kristina write it up but she could not remember who it was emailed to, she just confirmed it went to the county attorney. Tammy told me she asked Kristina to “write it up” after it occurred, they had just not done it yet. Tammy said either ‘Tara or Travis asked for the incident to be written up, but they (HR) were already going to do it, they just. hadn't done it yet.‘Tammy confirmed this is her best recollection of the conversation with Deputy Wendt, it was not verbatim, and it was not recorded in any way. Tammy confirmed who this was communicated with both verbally or via email, so | concluded the interview at 1521 hr. 07/27/21 ~ At 1538 hr | notified Deputy Wendt, via phone, | was conducting an internal investigation into his actions on 05/26/21 with HR. | also told him my preference would have been to do the advisement in person at the time I give him the internal investigation advisement form, but time was of the essence. We agreed to meet in my office to arrange an interview time and | could give him the form during his next day at work, which was 07/29/21. 07/28/21 ~ At 1407 hr | conducted a recorded interview of Tara Fugina, with her permission, in my office. Tara is the Chief Civil Attorney for Flathead County. Tara told me she received a call from Tammy ‘Skramovsky regarding the incident with Deputy Wendt. Tara said it was her impression Tammy had just gotten off the phone with Deputy Wendt when she called. Tara relayed the information Tammy gave to her about the phone call between her and Deputy Wendt in which he told her [Tammy] he had tried to call HR and got the phone tree. Tara’s recollection of her discussion with Tammy was Deputy Wendt wanted to see if things could be “excused” and then he asked if they (HR) could, "...say | notified you on Friday?” and Tammy told him no. | asked if Tara knew why Tammy called her. She said she gets calls when problem...but | can’t tell you why exactly. Tara then notified Travis [Ahner] because she doesn’t make decisions of Brady disclosures and. “unfortunately if one attorney in my office hears something, finds something out, then it’s imputed to every attorney in my office. So, if this came back later in a criminal case, the judge would say, someone in the office knew this, that knowledge is imputed to everybody, it could dismiss the case...” From there Tara said she did not know what Travis did from there and she was not involved in that. Travis did have her proof read a letter to a defense attorney about the disclosure, but that isi. people perceive a Tara has seen the document Kristina Pagel wrote up but she has not talked to anyone or emailed anyone the document, other than the County Administrator Pete Melnick. Tara confirmed the county attorney's office has no mechanism to investigate anything. | asked Tara if it was normal for a document like this, with the implications this has, to be handed out before an investigation is complete, or ifit had been done before. After a long pause she explained for any other department this would be “expected” to be reported to the department head. The interview was concluded at 1416 hr. (07/29/24 -1 met with an individual who is employed by Flathead County, who wished to remain ‘anonymous because of fear of possible retaliation from Flathead County Human Resources, who advised me they had a child while employed with Flathead County, but missed the 30-day notification by 1 or 2 days. This individual advised me they were able to get coverage for their child from time of birth despite missing the notification period. This occurred while Tammy Skramovsky was working at Flathead County Human Resources. 07/29/21 - At approximately 0830 | met with Deputy Wendt to go over the internal investigation advisement form and arrange a time for the interview. He signed the document and we agreed to conduct the interview later that day at approximately 1230 hr. Deputy Wendt came to my office at thattime and explained to me he did not feel the need for union representation during the interview. At 1235 hr | began the recorded interview, with his permission. Deputy Wendt told me he called HR to get his daughter insured but the first person he talked to told him he could not get his daughter insured because he missed the 30-day notification window. He thought that was ridiculous he couldn't get her insured because of a 3-day window. Deputy Wendt advised me he read the 30-day policy was a county policy that was the counties policy, not the insurance companies’ policy. Because of this he was calling to ask if there was anything he could do to get his daughter insured. Deputy Wendt said he did not ask anyone to lie or fil out any forms with any “other” information on them. He also said HR emailed him the forms and he never filled them out. | asked if he recalled any more specifics of what was said and he told me it was a long time ago and he couldn’t remember verbatim. He did relay Tammy asked him if he was asking her to lie and he “specifically” told them "..no, | am not asking you to lie.” Deputy Wendt said he told her he didn’t want them to do “anything” on any kind of submission or a forgery. | began to ask Deputy Wendt if he remembered specific things said in the two conversations. | asked him if, when talking with Tammy, asking her to say the notification was made within the 30 days. He responded he couldn’t remember specifically, but his “goal and intent” was to see if there was any way to gain coverage since it was our side of the policy he was out of compliance on. Deputy Wendt was fully aware he was still within the 60-day window at the time he contacted HR and was seeking a waiver for the 30-day window. (asked Deputy Wendt if he believed HA backdating a form Wasillegal. He) GG | clarified with Deputy Wendt | was asking in reference to documentation of the 30-day notification period. He said as far as he was aware the notification was a simple “you called me” and he wasn’t aware of a form or document used for that by HR used to document whether or not someone made the notification within the 30-day period. | again asked if he believed it was illegal to get insurance if a person was beyond the notification period and he told me “..no, because it’s a county policy...the county has the authority to approve or deny it.” Deputy Wendt explained he thought there may be a process for a waiver or could be accepted even if late, and that is what he was trying to do. | asked Deputy Wendt about whether or not he asked a question to HR about calling in and leaving a message on their phone. He said he vaguely remembered that but did remember asking them what constituted a notification, but he could not remember what exactly was said. | asked if he recalled HR asking him if he left a message but he didn’t remember that. | also asked him if he recalled telling ‘Tammy he tried to call but couldn’t get through their phone tree. He said he did not specifically recall that. I then asked what a phone tree meant to him. Deputy Wendt said if you called into a national chain and it sends you through a bunch of menus. | asked if he called into a phone number, such as county HR and it directed him to anything other than a directly leaving a message if he would consider that a phone tree, and he replied, “yes, I guess.” asked whether or not he recalled Tammy telling him HR couldn’t do that because it would by lying and Flathead County doesn’t do that, but he couldn’t remember her specifically saying that, but he did remember her asking if he was asking her to lie and he told her no. ;puty Wendt advised he was emailed the form but he did not fill the form out. Deputy Wendt again restated he called to get his daughter covered from insurance and then to see if he could get a waiverfor missing the 30-day notification period. He also said he posed questions to HR about things that could be done but he didn’t order HR to do anything unethical, wrong, or illegal. He said he did not threaten them or do or say anything to get them to incorrectly fill out a form and he said “no.” 1 also asked if he felt he violated any policies or laws and he said "Nope, this was @ complete surprise to me.” ‘At 1249 | concluded the interview. QD GABP ermaited the Montana attorney General's Office to inquire about Brady/Giglio issues related to this incident. The Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, wasn't available but | was able to speak with @@MIGUEVRK), the Prosecution Services Bureau Chief, and(DWiGIBUEHIer, the SPA coordinator. | explained the situation to them and they both told me, they could not give an “official” opinion without seeing the report and investigation into the matter, but based on what I told them this was not even a Brady/Gigli issue. They advised Travis Ahner could request them to look at this situation and offer a written opinion if need be. 07/29/21- 08/02/21 — During this time period I spoke with two individuals employed by Allegiance who worked out of the Missoula office, Kristi Cather, and administrative assistant and Jame King, an account manager who deals specifically with Flathead County. These phone calls were not recorded, however, | advised Kristi | would complete a summary of our conversation in my investigation. Both individuals told me essentially the same thing, which is highlighted with the following bullet poin ‘+ Allegiance enforces our (Flathead County's) plan and they can only do what the county tells them because the plan belongs to Flathead County. ‘+ The 30-day notification period has to do with stop/loss policies, but exceptions can be made to the 30-day notification period, and our HR can make those exceptions. ‘+ The 30-day notification period could be changed to other time frames if Flathead County wanted to do that. ‘+ Noone at Allegiance sees any document about the 30-day notification period nor do they care how that is done, they receive an electronic document from Flathead County stating an individual is covered or not. | specifically asked if our HR maintained a document that simply had a spot for a checkmark indication notification was made or not, with no date by it and they reiterated to me none of that matters to them. * Both individuals told me, although not meeting the 30-day notification period may make a person not eligible for insurance on it’s face, itis not insurance fraud to receive insurance despite not meeting the 30-day notification period, exceptions can and have been made. 08/02/24 ~ At 1411 | conducted a taped interview of Travis Ahnerin my office, wth his permission. said Tara [Fugina] informed him she had received some concerning information from Tammy ‘Skramovsky regarding Deputy Travis Wendt and his interaction with her while trying to get his newborn child added to insurance. Some of the things he said to Tammy made her concerned he had been dishonest. In a meeting sometime later with Tammy, she gave Travis a synopsis of the events and Travis asked her if she had documented it in any way. His understanding was HR had already started the documenting of the situation. Further, he said until he sees that document he wouldn't discuss it with her any further. Travis also talked to Tammy about making Brian Heino aware of the situation. Once that notification was made Travis talked with Brian, and his perception was Brian wasn’t fully advised of what the issuewas. Based on Brian’s reaction in that call he indicated to Travis this was an insurance issue. Travis confirmed his impression from speaking with Brian was, Brian believed this was an insurance issue, not ‘an issue of deception until Travis Ahner told him about it. Travis said the document was emailed to him from HR. | asked Travis if Tammy had indicated to him ‘whether or not she believed any policy or law had been violated and he said he didn’t recall, but said her concern was the deceptive aspect of their conversation. ‘Travis indicated it was not uncommon for Tammy to contact Tara about it because of legal implications for HR and the county. He went on to list out many scenarios and also said, in regards to missing the notification deadline, “..there’s a process for if, if vour...um, don’t have a family member enrolled a sor sion, so if they said nope, sorry you missed thi ine there is a process for appealing that | asked Travis if he thought it was normal in a circumstance like this for HR would contact the county attorney rather than the department head and he said a heads up was normal, and then he listed some examples why. Travis also, unsolicited by me, went on to tell me when his third child was born, he missed the 30-day deadline on the notification to HR for a qualifying event for insurance. Ultimately, the insurance carrier at the time forgot to send a notification to Travis, which would have reminded him to make the notification, so he was ultimately granted insurance even though he missed the deadline. Travis knew Tammy was working with HR at the time and he had discussed his insurance issue with his child with her at the time. | asked Travis, taking the written document at face value, was this a Brady or a Giglio issue. He didn’t answer that directly but he said his office absolutely has to disclose any “credible” information about possible officer deception, they have to disclose it to defense counsel. He also said it doesn’t have to b “.400% proven...” to hand it over until itis established in a court of law it didn’t happen. | also asked him about getting an opinion on this matter from the Attorney General's Office and he indicated it doesn’t bring the same weight or force as a judge's ruling. Travis said his recollection was Tammy emailed him the document but he had not emailed it to anyone ‘material to this case, other than people already identified. | concluded the interview at 1443 hr. After interviewing Travis Ahner, | spoke with Sheriff Heino. He confirmed he didn’t understand from talking to Tammy when she called to advise him of the situation, after being directed to by Travis Ahner, the gravity of the situation. He believed it was an “insurance” issue. At that time, he had no idea she had contacted Travis Ahner until Travis contacted him and talked to him about the possible Impeachment situation a day or two later. Evidence and Fi ings This concluded my investigation. A synopsis and my findings are below: ‘+ 0n 05/26/21 Deputy Wendt contacted HR via phone to get help regarding getting his newborn child covered from birth under the Flathead County insurance plan. He spoke with Kristina Pagel. ‘© In Kristina Paget’s written summation of this phone call she wrote, “..whatever our policy states is what guides Allegiance..” In my interview with her she confirmed "Allegiance only doesaccording to our policy, they don’t actually make the decisions for us they just implement the rules based on our policy” Additionally, according to Kristina’s written document, which Tammy Skramovsky said was accurate, as well as in my interview with Kristina, Deputy Wendt only posed questions to them, he did not ever say he did something he did not. also asked Kristin whether or not Allegiance would accept our paperwork for Deputy Wendt if we said the notification was made within the required dates/time frame for notification and she responded, “n if athe f we did Lam sure. They are trusting u the authority in that.” Kristina also confirmed this was her best recollection of what was said, ‘no notes were taken at the time and nothing was recorded. (0n 07/26/21 | interviewed Tammy Skramovsky and she said she read the document Kristina Pagel crafted and it was consistent with her recollection of what was said by Deputy Wendt. ‘Tammy told me he [Deputy Wendt] was “phrasing everything asifit happened on all of these what if scenarios.” This statement is inconsistent with what Kristina Pagel wrote, which Tammy read and said was accurate, as well as my interview with Kristina. In the written statement Deputy Wendt only posed questions to them, other than talking about getting a phone tre ‘Also, phrasing things as if they happened, by virtue means, they can not be “what if” scenarios. In regards to our summary plan and Allegiance, Tammy told me, “they can’t break the rules because they don’t own the plan.” She also confirmed the “rules” of the plan is our (Flathead County) policy. In other words, the 30-day notification period is a policy, not a law, and the policy is Flathead County's. | asked Tammy why we had a 30-day notification period and she didn’t know other than that is how we have always done it. Tammy was adamant Deputy ‘Wendt was trying to get them to lie about the 30-day notification period and that indicating he had made notification within that period when he was actually 3 days late was illegal and “Covering someone that shouldn't be covered..j.insurance fraud plain and simple” even though she also plainly stated the 30-day period is a Flathead County policy. | also asked Tammy if in her 17 years at Flathead HR any employee had ever missed the 30-day notification period and were able to still get insurance on our plan and she responded, “They did not get coverage on ‘our health insurance plan.” | later discovered this is patently false. Tammy Skramovsky then contacted Tara Fugina rather than contacting Deputy Wendt’s department head, Sheriff Brian Heino, for a matter that was alleged to have occurred in a specific manner, which was not a violation of policy or law, and the County Attorney has no mechanism to investigate. Ultimately Travis Ahner had to direct Tammy to tell Brian Heino about the matter, which gives the inference she had no intention to do so in the first place. When she did notify Brian, he got the impression it was just an insurance matter, not a matter of deception that involved the County ‘Attorney. Lastly, Tammy seemed to not remember key details such as who told her to put the conversation in writing, and whether or not the communication and request was made via phone or email. (0n 07/28/21 in an interview with Tara Fugina she told me in regards to Tammy Skramovsky, she calls when “..people perceive a problem...but | can’t tell you why exactly.” In other words, Tara is apparently not clear as to why Tammy calls her rather than going directly to the department head. | asked Tara ifit was normal for a document containing an allegation like this, with the implications this has, to be handed out before an investigation is complete, or if it had been done before. Aftera long pause she explained for any other department this would be “expected” to be reported to the department head.‘On 7/29/21 a person employed by Flathead County who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from HR told me they had missed the 30-day notification period but were able to get their newborn child covered from the time of birth anyways under the county insurance pian. Additionally, Travis Ahner had the same circumstance and was able to get a child covered. This is concerning for two reasons. 1) If this is the case it is clearly not illegal, as Tammy was so adamant it was, and exceptions can be made. 2) Tammy was either completely uninvolved in these cases and completely unaware of them, or she lied to me during the recorded interview. On 07/29/21 while interviewing Deputy Wendt he said his “goal and intent” was to see if he could get insurance for his child and was posing questions because he believed the Flathead Insurance plan was a policy that was flexible and exceptions could be made. He indicated he plainly told Tammy Skramovsky “...00, | am not asking you to lie.” Deputy Wendt said he told her he didn’t want them to do “anything” on any kind of submission or a forgery, he was merely posing hypothetical questions about what he believed was a flexible policy. Deputy Wendt advised he called HR after hours and got a “phone tree” so he didn’t leave a message. Neither Kristina or Tammy asked him what he meant by that, but Deputy Wendt said his normal course of action is to not leave a message after hours and he told Tammy he did not leave a message. (On 07/28/21 | spoke with representatives from the Montana Attorney General's Office and their “unofficial” opinion was this matter is not a Brady/Giglo issue. In the time frame of 07/29/21- 08/02/21 | contacted two representatives from Allegiance, one ‘of which is a program manager for Flathead County's plan and the both said the summary plan belongs to Flathead County, the 30-day time period can be changed, they enforce our plan but they do what we tell them to do, they do not know how we track who makes proper notification nor do they care, and not making the 30-day time period and still receiving insurance from time of birth is not illegal or fraud. There are, have been, and can be exceptions. ‘On 08/02/21, in an interview with Travis Ahner, two concerning things came up. Travis indicated he was under the assumption HR already had or were drafting a document about their conversation with HR. Tammy Skramovsky said Travis Ahner directed her to draft the document, so it is unclear who told who to do what. It is concerning the County Attorney may have directed HR to draft a document about their version of a conversation that may contain dishonesty from one of our employees, then take that document and provide it to defense counsel without an investigation and due process for our employee. With this particular allegation there was no violation of law or policy on its face, which make this worse. Giving an unsubstantiated document such as this to defense counsel may have negatively impacted Deputy Wendt's career in a manner which can also negatively impact his assignment, which can negatively impact his pay. This alone could cause severe negative impacts for the Sheriff's Office. Additionally, the implications of this process are huge as any person can make any unsubstantiated claim about a Flathead County Sherif’s Deputy and that information could be passed out to defense without due process for the employee. This is fundamentally a flawed process. Secondly, with any amount of objectivity and thought, Tammy Skramovsky would have realized there was no policy violation or apparent violation of law. The appropriate thing to do would have been to notify Deputy Wendt’s department head, Sheriff Brian Heino, so we could adequately investigate the matter and provide findings to correctly address the situation. Based on interviews with Tammy Skramovsky, Tara Fugina, and Travis Ahner it appears it is normal for ‘Tammy to contact Tara prior to contacting the employee's department head. Although |completely understand the need on occasion to give Tara a “heads up”, since when do we, as an organization, not follow a fair process to properly address possible misconduct, and then correctly address the employee based on what a proper investigation reveals? This is a fundamentally unfair process. Frankly, the examples | was given on why this is done just simply don’t make sense. Also of note is the fact Travis Ahner told me during the interview there was a process for appealing the 30-day notification period. if he believed that he must have known nothing Deputy Wendt did was illegal or a violation of policy, per se. Why then would he forward this information to defense counsel without it being properly investigated? ‘© Both Kristina Pagel’s and Tammy Skramovsky’s interviews are in conflict, and there are also conflicts with what was put in writing and Tammy's recorded interview. Deputy Wendt went to. the Human Resources Department for help, and he ended up being investigated. Disposition 1. Based on this investigation | can find no violation of our Sheriff's Office values, any policy, or law, by Deputy Wendt. The complaint against Deputy Wendt is Unfounded. 2. The Flathead County values of respectful and responsive communication, professional service with quality and integrity, proactive and innovative leadership at all levels, and creating a positive team culture that values all people, were violated as it relates to how Deputy Wendt was dealt with in this matter. Conclusion and Recommendations 1. Further investigation from a county official may be warranted to determine whether or not ‘Tammy Skramovsky lied during her recorded interview about her knowledge of previous exceptions to the 30-day notification requirement. 2. Flathead County policies for proper notification of alleged employee misconduct should be reviewed, updated, and or codified if possible. Additionally, how, when, and to whom information from those investigations is disseminated should also be codified in Flathead County Policy. 3. Flathead County policies regarding exceptions to the 30-day notification period for a qualifying ‘event can be made and a process for this should be explored, developed, and implemented whereby these decisions cannot be made unilaterally by the HR Director. Exhibits ‘A. Description of phone calls by Deputy Wendt to HR. Emails between County Attorney Travis Ahner and Undersheriff Wayne DuBois. Flathead County Summary Plan page outlining the Special Enrollment Period. Allegiance Request for Enrollment Change Form. Email from Kristina Pagel to Travis Wendt in which the Enrollment Change Form was sent. mone 8-2-2) Wayne DuBois, Undersheriff5/26/2021” Travis Wendt ‘Travis called thet morning with some open enrollment questions regarding his wife and also asked what hhe needed to do to add his newhotn son to the Insurance. | asked him when his son was bom and he told me 4/23/2021. Ilet him know that he would able to enroll both his spouse and his baby in May during open enrollment but the coverage would not begin until 7/1/2024 because he had to notify HR within 30 days ofthe baby’s birth to be covered from DOB. He was very angry that we would choose to ‘ot Insure his child over a 8 day window. He felt that tt was completely ridiculous and that he would be ‘able to fight It. When | explalned that It was a policy and while l completely understood his emotions ‘over I, there really Isn't any way to get around the 30 days. | also explained that he signed the SPD Update every year and It states in there as well ason the front of the sheet that we require the notification to be made within 30 days. He stated that there was no way he was going to read and remember any of that. | again reminded him that’s why it was put on the signature page as another reminder es well. He was very upset and Just kept repeating that there should be something that he can do, He said since the County wouldn't allow tt, he would then call Alleglance and fight ft on that end. | explained that they do whatever our policy states is what guldes Allegiance so unfortunately that ‘wouldn't make any difference. He sald he still wanted to try so | provided him the number. | then emalled him the SPD Update at 1:35 that aftemoon{ attached), 5/27/2021 ‘Travis called and again was asking questions why we wouldn't allow the baby to be enrolled regardless Of the 30 days. He stated that he found the new enrollment form that says he could fill that out and turn tt In to HR within 60 days to retro the coverage. | explained that the form is not an ether/or form. The first part of the process Is notifying HR within 30 days elther verbally, email or however but a ‘notification of some sort Is required. Then the 2™ plece is that that form, but ft would not be accepted If tthe notification didn’t occur because they go hand in hand. He disagreed and did not feel like that was ‘what ft meant, then asked if he would like to talk to Tammy for more clarification which he did. | transferred him to Tammy's phone and he was put on speaker phone with me In the room as welll. During that phone call Travis again argued the ridiculousness of the 30 day requirement and felt like we ‘should honor it. Tammy again explained that he would have had to notify us within 30 days no ‘exceptions. Travis then states that what If he had tried to call our office Friday the 21° | but no one ‘answered the phone Fé was asked ithe left a message because that would be tif BRly way the Notification would stand. He sald no because he called and was trying to get through our ‘phone tree’ ‘but never got all the way through and had to hang up. Tammy then ‘explained that we don’t have a phone tree. We only had direct lines so there wouldn’t have been any way for that to happen but ‘regardless just calling and not leaving message does not constitute notice. Travis then asked lf we can Just say that he did? Tammy told him no because that would be lying and this ls an official document and Flathead County does not do that, He still didn’t feel like the County had the right to. deny the form fhe ‘completed tt and sent it in within 60 days and he stated that he would still lke to do that. TammyA ~ Kristina Pagel From: Kelstina Paget Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2021 1:35 PM Tor ‘Travis Wendt Subject: Insurance Information Attachments: (0010675 Flathead County SPD Update 67012020 w signature,paf HITravis, Just to follow up I thought It might be helpful for you to have this for reference. Sorry | wasn't able to do more. Please {et us know If you need any help with open enrollment. ‘Thanks, Kridtina Pagel HR Generalist Flathead County 800, Maln St, Room 219 Kalispell, MT 59901 406-758-5523, ‘406-758-5905 (fex)Kistina Pagel Friday, May 28, 2021 1:15 PM Travis Wendt Subject: Enrollment change form Attnchments; Alleglance_Enroliment. Change Form rev2011.pdf HITravis, Heres the form that Tammy mentioned yesterday this would be separate from the adding your dependents, during ‘pen enrollment prior to 5/31/2021. Let me know if there Is anything else you might need. ‘Thanks, Kristina Pagel HR Generalist Flathead County 800 S, Main St, Room 219 Kallspel!, MT 59901, ‘406-758-5523 406-758-5905 (fax)From: Kristina Paget Sent: Friday, May 28, 2021 2:59 PM Tor Travis Wendt Subject: RE: Enrollment change form HI Travis, ‘You will definitely want to enroll the baby during open enrollment but you could also enroll your spouse too, Either way, she will be eligible for coverege when her caverage ends. Losing insurance is a qualifying event so It can be one at any time during the year but also has to be done within 30 days of losing the coverage. To add herat that time, ‘you would complete the same form that | just sent you for the baby. In addition you will need to provide something from her insurance showing thet it has or will be ending and then ours can start where hers ended, Hope that helps. Kristina Pagel HRGeneralist Flathead County 406-758-5523, ‘406-758-5805 (fax) From: Travis Wendt ‘Sent: Friday, May 28, 2021 1:19 PM To: Kristina Page! ‘Subject: Re: Enrollment change form Thank you for the form. 'f my wife Is due to lose coverage mid June, Should ! enroll her during open enrollment, or watt until she loses coverage. | dont want any gap In her coverage. Thanks, a Dep Wendt From: Kristina Pagel ‘Sents Friday, May 28, 2021 1:14:38 PM Tor Travis Wendt Subject: Enrollment change form HiTravis, Here ls the form that Tammy mentioned yesterday, this would be separate from the adding your dependents during ‘open enrollment prior to 5/31/2021, 1