Federal official retires amid allegations she shielded husband in Yosemite harassment scandal
A federal official who had been accused of protecting her husband from charges that he mismanaged Yosemite National Park during an ongoing harassment scandal announced her retirement Monday.
Patty Neubacher came under scrutiny in recent months as the Interior Department and Congress investigated widespread allegations of bullying, intimidation and harassment of employees throughout the country's national park system.
Her husband, Don Neubacher, on Thursday announced his retirement as superintendent of Yosemite National Park, where employees and former employees had complained of a systemic failure to investigate and address allegations of harassment at the iconic California landmark. Some employees alleged that Patty Neubacher had used her position to protect the superintendent.
At a Sept. 22 hearing focused on reports that the parks have become a hostile work environment, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, grilled a ranking Park Service official about the situation at Yosemite: "You have somebody on your staff who is essentially protected and empowered by his wife. How do you let that happen?"
Patty Neubacher, deputy regional director for the Pacific West Region, which covers 56 national parks in six states, had been with the Park Service for 33 years.
She announced her retirement in an internal email Sunday. On Monday, many staffers at the park who had not heard the news expressed surprise.
Among them was Scott Gediman, a spokesman for the park with an office adjacent to the superintendent's.
"Wow. Oh wow," he said as he scanned for the first time a report of the retirement on his office computer.
Gediman declined to comment on either of the Neubachers.
The couple's departures followed a series of reports by current and former employees of bullying, intimidation and harassment within the park service.
_Los Angeles Times
