The city accuses a former supervising nurse at San Francisco General Hospital of abusing medical leave and committing overtime fraud.
Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle
A former supervising nurse for the city of San Francisco is facing a lawsuit alleging he misrepresented his ability to work after getting into a car crash and secretly worked a second job while collecting medical leave benefits from the city.
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed the lawsuit Friday seeking to recover nearly $200,000 from former San Francisco Department of Public Health employee Robert Gnat over allegations that he abused medical leave and committed overtime fraud.
Gnat, who worked as a nurse manager in the emergency department at San Francisco General Hospital until last year, called the allegations “factually inaccurate.”
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The lawsuit centers around a car crash Gnat reported in March 2025. Gnat told his supervisors he broke multiple bones and aggravated a brain injury that he sustained while serving in a combat role in Afghanistan, according to the lawsuit. He went out on leave for three months, saying he needed brain surgery and was unable to do his job, but instead worked as a nurse for Kaiser Permanente, the suit says.
City employees are required to get permission before working a side job, but Gnat allegedly never did and concealed his secondary employment from the city.
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From 2022 to 2024, he also billed the city for unapproved overtime hours that he never worked and exploited the timing of the payroll system to “ensure his fraudulent overtime entries would not be reviewed before payment was issued” by the city, the lawsuit alleges.
“City employees are expected to follow the rules and use public resources honestly,” Chiu said in a statement. “Mr. Gnat intentionally used his supervisory role to secure pay he was not entitled to.”
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Chiu said the health department “discovered this problem, referred it for investigation, and implemented additional systems to ensure it does not happen again.”
“We are committed to recouping this money and holding Mr. Gnat accountable,” he said.
Reached by the Chronicle, Gnat said he was unaware of and surprised by the lawsuit. He said he was in a serious car crash that sent him to an intensive care unit and did have a previous head injury. But he said he was not in the military and did not get injured in Afghanistan.
“I think something is lost in translation,” Gnat said in a text message.
He said he has a seizure disorder from the car crash.
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“I couldn’t keep working in the (emergency department) there because I can’t work in that high intense environment anymore,” he wrote.
Gnat said he was not unique in having a side gig.
“Most workers have second jobs there,” Gnat said. “I’m definitely guilty of that. I went to school and paid for it all by working, I gave them extra hours, and when those dried up I did what the other staff did. But I think they were upset I did it as a manager.”
Gnat said he had been accused of time card fraud, but thought the city “dropped it.”
He later said he would be hiring a lawyer and declined to comment further.
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Gnat, a 41-year-old San Francisco resident, worked for the DPH from 2011 through June 2025, including as a registered nurse and as a nurse manager. He earned about $358,000 in total compensation, including regular pay and benefits, in his final year as a city worker, city records show.
Gnat did not say why he separated from the city but that it wasn’t his “intention to leave.” City human resources officials declined to comment on the nature of his departure, citing employee confidentiality rules. State records show he remains licensed to work as a nurse.
A DPH spokesperson released a statement describing the allegations as “irregularities related to overtime reporting and additional employment compliance.” The department discovered the issues, referred them for investigation, has controls in place to prevent them from happening, and is “implementing additional safeguards to strengthen these systems,” according to the statement.
“The department strictly oversees secondary employment and routinely reminds all staff of their obligation to seek prior approval before engaging in any outside employment,” the statement said. “DPH is committed to accountability at every level and will continue to take proactive steps to ensure the integrity of its operations and the responsible use of public resources.”
According to the lawsuit, Gnat told his supervisors he was unable to perform any nursing or managerial work and needed brain surgery because of the car crash. He was on medical and then sick leave from March 24 through June 30, 2025, during which time he allegedly attended meetings and fulfilled other duties while working as a nurse for Kaiser.
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Attorneys said he “fraudulently” received about $73,500 in medical leave benefits.
He was also paid more than 600 hours of overtime and nearly 300 hours of compensatory time, “only 32 hours of which were actually approved by his supervisor,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit put his total amount of “ill-gotten gains” at $193,514.90. The city is seeking to recover that amount as well as other damages and costs.
Michael Barba can be reached at michael.barba@sfchronicle.com or via Signal at michaelbarba.42.