On Aug. 16, 2025, a female Guide Dogs of the Desert employee walked into a building at the organization’s Whitewater campus to begin an early-morning shift alone.
A man, Bryan Vines Burge, attacked her. As reported by KESQ: “Investigators said Burge encountered the victim … and pulled a knife on her, trying to force himself on her while threatening her life.”
Burge later pleaded guilty to attempted rape. On March 19, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
While the attack itself was a shocking but isolated incident, a joint investigation by The Palm Springs Post and Coachella Valley Independent revealed reports of gaps in campus security and leadership’s response to the attack. Interviews, internal documents and emails, and court records we reviewed show that employees had raised broader concerns about campus security, the leadership of executive director Robert Maher, board oversight and the organization’s finances.
Maher and Richard Clapp, the chairman of the organization’s Board of Directors, declined to answer many specific questions about internal complaints, frequently citing personnel matters, but broadly disputed the characterization of events described by former employees.
During our six-month investigation, The Post and the Independent spoke with more than 15 current and former employees and volunteers, most of whom chose not to be identified for fear of retaliation, including losing their jobs or disciplinary action. Several said the specialized nature of their work would make it difficult to find similar jobs locally.
“There is nothing to say to you, because those are all private staff matters, and they don’t have anything to do with you, the public or anyone else,” Maher said in a phone interview Tuesday evening in response to questions. “My response is that these are all in-house staff relations, and of course, by law, I’m not allowed to speak on them.
“And I’m really surprised at this whole position, here, because you know better.”
Together, the interviews, documents and court records indicate employees repeatedly raised concerns about safety, management and workplace practices. Multiple staff members said those concerns were not adequately addressed.
There is no indication in court records that the attacker had any prior connection to the organization or that the attack was directly linked to the issues raised by staff.
A Large Mission—and Growing Concerns
Guide Dogs of the Desert, whose mission is to “provide quality guide dogs to the blind and the blind with special needs,” operates a six-acre campus off Dillon Road in Whitewater, just north of Palm Springs. The campus includes a 12-bedroom dormitory, administrative offices, a dining and conference space, and a 400-seat auditorium where graduation ceremonies are held. The campus also includes kennel facilities housing up to 25 adult dogs, a separate puppy kennel and an on-site wellness center.
Founded in 1972 by Bud Maynard, the nonprofit has grown from a small desert ranch house into an internationally recognized training program. Over more than 50 years, it has graduated more than 900 guide dog teams, providing dogs and training at no cost to clients. Employees said that the importance of the mission—and the scale of the operation—make their concerns all the more troubling.
“What makes all of this so concerning is that the mission is absolutely vital—helping people who are blind or visually impaired live safer, fuller, more independent lives—and the staff and volunteers on the ground care deeply about that work, as do donors,” said Tom Tarr, a former development director for the nonprofit.
“They understand that the need is great. They are pouring their hearts into the training of the dogs, and supporting the needs of the clients, and the volunteers, but their efforts are being undercut by poor working conditions and systemic mismanagement at the leadership of the organization.”
In the months before the attack last August, staff who spoke to The Post and the Independent said, security issues on campus had already been identified. Among them was a broken lock on the only door to the building where the attack occurred, besides a sliding glass door that had remained intact, staff said.
Multiple employees said they warned Maher that the door needed professional repair. According to those employees and a detailed letter from a canine development staff member sent to the board, a locksmith was not hired before the attack.
“(T)here was no indication at any time that that lock had been broken prior to the attack,” Maher said. “There’s no formal report to that effect.”
At the same time, security cameras—including one covering the area where the attack occurred—had not been functioning properly since at least June 2025, according to the letter and multiple employees. Staff members said the medical team requested repairs more than once and that they were unaware of any repairs being made before the attack. The cameras were used not only for exterior monitoring, but also to observe dogs inside the facility, including those recovering from surgery, allowing staff to review footage if complications arose overnight.
Those issues, staff said, were part of broader concerns about the organization’s safety planning.
According to multiple staff interviews, the organization did not have a workplace violence prevention plan in place, despite California requirements that employers maintain one. Employees said they repeatedly raised the issue with Maher and the board.
The issue is also raised in a lawsuit filed in February by Caryn Gates, a current employee and former director of human resources, which alleges retaliation for protected activity, whistleblower retaliation, and constructive discharge in violation of public policy, among various other claims in the aftermath of voicing her concerns.
According to the filing, Gates raised concerns with Maher about the absence of an adequate plan on Aug. 17 or 18, 2025—one or two days after the attack. The lawsuit further states that beginning around Aug. 23, 2025, regular Wednesday directors’ meetings were canceled, and Gates was subsequently excluded from management meetings.
Guide Dogs of the Desert has not yet filed a response to Gates’ allegations.
Staff also said they had asked for a fire safety plan for about two years and that one was not in place. That absence became crucial on July 1, 2025, when a garbage truck exploded in the GDD parking lot and caught fire during a staff meeting in an adjacent building, creating what employees described as a confusing and frightening situation without a clear evacuation protocol. The fire caused smoke and fire damage to a nearby parking stall cover and at least one adjacent vehicle. The incident was confirmed by The Post and the Independent through a CAL FIRE report.
“That’s not correct,” Maher said when asked about the lack of a workplace violence prevention plan and fire safety plan.
Clapp, the Board of Directors chairman, said in an interview earlier this month that he was “not totally certain how to respond to that” when asked why a workplace violence prevention plan and fire plan had not been put in place.
“Based on what you just shared, you’re not aware of everything that went on, and not aware of all the details and all of the background,” Clapp said. “You’re hearing from people, obviously, very second-hand information that is not accurate, and I cannot give you any specific response to that, because it would involve talking about individuals, which is personnel.”
Clapp declined to answer multiple questions about internal complaints, repeatedly citing personnel concerns.
Questions About the Response
Employees and internal documents raised a new set of questions after the attack—not about prevention, but about how leadership responded afterward.
According to multiple current and former employees, Maher was notified about the attack immediately, but did not come to campus that day, which was a Saturday. Instead, according to the letter from the canine development staff member, he reportedly told Gates he would “deal with it on Monday.”
Multiple employees said Maher did not contact the victim until Monday, more than two days after the Saturday attack.
As employees arrived on campus, both on the day of the attack and afterward, many were not informed of what had happened. Some said they learned about the attack from co-workers or the victim herself.
On Monday evening, Aug. 18, an employee working an overnight shift without security said that she was told by Maher that the building’s water had been shut off due to a sprinkler leak, and that she would need to go outside to a valve near a storm drain—in the same area where the attacker had hidden—to turn it back on, according to an internal letter and staff interviews. She refused, citing safety concerns, and maintenance was called instead.
“… If I was able to speak freely, you’d probably understand everything very clearly, and you’d understand that disgruntled employees are just that—disgruntled employees, and I don’t have anything else to say.”
Guide dogs of the desert executive director robert maher
“That’s all a private staff matter,” Maher said in response to the concerns around his actions after the attack.
The letter to the board also stated that a workers’ compensation incident report had not been completed on the day of the attack and, according to the letter, still had not been completed more than a week later.
According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, employers must provide a workers’ compensation claim form within one working day of a reported injury, return a copy to the employee within one working day of receipt, and forward the form and injury report to the claims administrator within one working day. Employers are also required to authorize up to $10,000 in medical treatment within one working day of receiving a claim. The department states that having employees seek treatment through personal insurance may constitute misrepresentation of the cause of the injury.
“You’d have to talk to our HR person, Ms. Caryn Gates, about that,” said Maher.
For some employees, those decisions reinforced their view that safety concerns were still not being adequately addressed, even after a violent incident.
Complaints to the Board
On Aug. 25, a staff member sent a lengthy letter to a member of the Guide Dogs of the Desert board of directors, which was then forwarded to board chair Clapp outlining safety issues, concerns about the organization’s response to the attack, and what the employee described as a pattern of inaction.
The letter said employees had previously brought concerns about Maher to board leadership at least three times and that they did not receive what they considered a meaningful response. It described morale as “dire,” warning that 10 staff members were on the verge of quitting.
In a Sept. 2 email, Clapp wrote that the board was “taking the events of Aug. 16, 2025 and the surrounding safety concerns very seriously” and would be “working with Mr. Maher to address those concerns.” But the response indicated that the board wanted employees to first raise concerns through internal supervisory channels.
“In the future, should you have other work concerns, please present them to your immediate supervisor,” Clapp wrote. “If that person cannot resolve the issue, then the next step is the on-site human resource person who will work with the executive director to resolve the issue.”
In a follow-up email to board members on Sept. 7, Clapp instructed them to refer employee concerns about Maher to Gates.
“During the past several weeks, various board members have received phone calls or emails from members of the Guide Dog staff regarding concerns they have,” Clapp wrote. “… If (Gates) can’t resolve it, then Rob, as executive director, becomes involved. If the concern involves Rob, and it can’t be resolved, then Caryn brings the issue to the board. … If the issue doesn’t involve Rob and is not resolvable, then Rob brings the issue to the board. I’m sure you can see what happens if employees feel they can go directly to board members.”
Employees said they received no further communication from the board about the concerns raised in the letter. They said the broken lock was repaired after the attack.
When asked why he directed employees to the executive director when there were multiple complaints about his leadership, and to the human-resources director, Clapp said he could not discuss the issue.
“I can’t talk to you about what’s going on among people like that,” he said.
Retaliation Allegations Emerge
Around the same time, Gates escalated her warnings and handled a discrimination complaint filed by a blind employee against Maher.
According to Gates’ lawsuit, the complaint was filed on or around Sept. 3, 2025. When Gates brought it to the board, she was instructed to present it directly to Maher, placing her “in an untenable position of having to report discrimination allegations to the person accused of committing them while simultaneously supporting an employee who had made a protected complaint,” the lawsuit states.
When asked about the complaint filed by the blind employee, Clapp said he could not discuss it.
“All I can tell you is, at this point, when you have an organization that involves 30 people, there’s always going to be something happening, and to take second-hand information and make it into something—that sounds to me like you’re trying to make it into something that could put (The Palm Springs Post) in a very bad situation. … I wish I could just be straightforward with you, but I can’t, because it’s personnel.”
When asked about the discrimination complaint by the blind employee and if any action was taken, Maher responded that he did not have a comment.
“I guess we are done, because, again, you have your own mission for some reason, and your mission is to hurt the organization, and your mission appears to be looking to justify somebody who is disgruntled, and that’s very unfortunate,” Maher said.
“And I don’t know what you think the outcome of publishing a story like this might be, but it’s unfortunate you’re taking this position, because if I was able to speak freely, you’d probably understand everything very clearly, and you’d understand that disgruntled employees are just that—disgruntled employees, and I don’t have anything else to say.”
The following month, Gates alleges in the lawsuit, some of her responsibilities began to be stripped away.
According to Gates’ complaint, in or around October 2025, Gates’ HR duties were removed from her position without adequate explanation or consultation. Later that month, she received a disciplinary write-up for violating policy at a volunteer event, despite the fact that volunteers wrote rebuttal letters supporting Gates and contradicting the allegations against her. Also in or around October 2025, Gates wrote her first letter to the board alleging retaliation for her protected activities, including reporting the blind employee’s discrimination complaint against Maher to the board.
Gates’ complaint goes on to allege this sequence of events:
In mid-November 2025, an outside consultant, Del Peeples, was hired to take over human resources duties. On Nov. 25, Gates’ HR director title was removed from the company website without notice or explanation; as of this writing, the website lists her as director of community engagement.
On Dec. 2, Gates sent a second letter to the board documenting what she described as escalating adverse actions against her.
That same month, a mass email to volunteers announced that another employee would take over the puppy den and volunteer program—responsibilities central to Gates’ role. Gates alleges she was also barred from accessing the puppy den, prohibited from having guide dogs in her office, and no longer allowed to transport or pick up dogs. She said physical HR files were removed from her office without notice and that the actions left her feeling publicly humiliated.
Her lawsuit alleges 15 causes of action, including whistleblower retaliation, discrimination, harassment and failure to implement required workplace violence prevention measures.
“Our board would never tolerate any form of retaliation against any employee under any circumstances,” Clapp said in response. “… As a general statement, that is just something that is not and would never be ever tolerated—any kind of retaliation for any reason whatsoever. Again, that’s second-hand, third-hand, whatever you’re bringing up there. … It doesn’t match reality.”
Maher echoed that stance, declining to address the allegations directly and framing them as part of an internal legal dispute.
“… I’m just really surprised, because I think you can recognize that this is a disgruntled employee who is trying to lash back any way they can,” said Maher. “And the fact that one person who has indicated that they are still caring about the community is trying to hurt the very community that they are saying they’re caring about is very unfortunate, and I think this whole situation is very unfortunate.”
When told that The Post and the Independent have spoken with more than 15 concerned current and former staff and volunteers, Maher said he “still thinks it’s all very unfortunate.”
Financial Red Flags
Troubling patterns also emerged in another aspect of the organization: its finances.
In 2023, Guide Dogs of the Desert reported net income of more than $1 million. One year later, it reported a net loss of $476,790.
That shift came during a period in which multiple development directors raised concerns about financial management before later departing the organization.
Michael O’Donahue, who said he has three decades of nonprofit-management experience, was hired as development director in August 2022, just five weeks before the organization’s anniversary celebration in September. O’Donahue said an event production company and a marketing firm had been hired—but little work had been completed when he arrived.
“What makes all of this so concerning is that the mission is absolutely vital—helping people who are blind or visually impaired live safer, fuller, more independent lives—and the staff and volunteers on the ground care deeply about that work, as do donors.”
former Guide Dogs of the Desert development director tom tarr
“All of that responsibility was put on me” with just five weeks to execute, O’Donahue said.
Despite his efforts, O’Donahue said the event barely covered its expenses—and when accounting for the marketing and event company’s contract costs, “it was a huge loss.”
O’Donahue was also concerned about more than just the fundraising event losses. He said he raised concerns with Maher about what he viewed as financial mismanagement and a lack of transparency from leadership.
“I (told Maher) I could not continue to raise money from donors with his mismanagement of the organization and would need to leave if things did not improve. I put this all in writing in an email I sent to him—and the next day, I was terminated,” O’Donahue said. “He did not have any kind of conversation with me after I sent the email, and he told the operations manager he had decided to ‘accept my resignation,’” even though he had not resigned.
O’Donahue said a board member contacted him after his termination to discuss why he had left. O’Donahue said he shared what he viewed as concerns about financial management, but “never heard anything back from anyone.”
After O’Donahue’s departure, the organization cycled through development leadership, including a short-term director, before hiring Tom Tarr.
Tarr, who has more than 30 years of experience in strategic planning and fundraising for businesses and nonprofits, joined Guide Dogs of the Desert in 2023—also shortly before a major fundraising event. He said that, as with the previous event, substantial payments had been made to outside contractors, but little work had been completed, leaving the responsibilities to him and GDD staff.
Tarr created a comprehensive development plan during the spring of 2024 that, according to the document obtained by The Post and the Independent, identified financial problems within the organization. According to Tarr, he sent the plan to the board in August 2024.
In the plan, Tarr detailed losses from GDD’s signature fundraising events, including the 2023 gala, which generated $77,456 in revenue but cost $93,846 to produce—a net loss of $16,390, “excluding staff and volunteer time,” according to the document. According to Tarr, he was asked to leave the marketing costs off the financial report presented to the board.
“In Palm Springs and in the Coachella Valley area, everybody thinks fundraising is (all about) events, and it’s not. … Events are actually the least productive way to raise money,” Tarr said.
In the plan, Tarr wrote: “GDD has suffered from years of frequent leadership transitions, frequent transitions in development staffing, lack of investment in fundraising infrastructure and modern technology, lack of financial controls between finance and development, and inconsistent deployment of fundraising strategies and tactics—with the resulting impacts on donor awareness, trust and retention.” Tarr’s plan then included a number of suggestions to improve the organization’s fundraising capabilities.
Tarr elaborated in an interview: “Prior to my getting there, there was no reconciliation between the money that came in the door and was recorded from a fundraising standpoint, and then reconciled with finance and what was deposited. It wasn’t until I got there … my colleague in finance, we worked together to set up a process to do that.”
Tarr said implementing this basic financial control—a standard practice in nonprofit management—was not directed or supported by Maher.
“Huge red flag,” Tarr said.
Responding to Tarr’s claims of financial losses and a lack of financial controls, Clapp pushed back, calling those assertions assumptions and questioning their accuracy. Maher did not specifically address financial controls in his responses to questions.
“We’ve been in business 53 years,” Clapp said. “I wish I could publicly share with you the endowment fund we have. … You know, if people leave an organization … they didn’t fit, and they weren’t doing what they were supposed to do, or they found something else to do.”
On Aug. 9, 2024, Maher called Tarr into a meeting and presented him with a document titled “Notice to Employee as to Change in Relationship,” effectively terminating his employment that day. Tarr later sent a letter to the board noting the pattern of turnover.
“Turning over three development directors in two years seems indicative of an issue needing to be addressed,” Tarr wrote.
Clapp, however, reiterated that Guide Dogs is not dealing with any financial problems.
“My gosh, we’ve got an endowment,” Clapp said. “Personnel come and go. That’s any business, any organization. If these questions all involve personnel … so if three people left Guide Dogs for whatever reason, I can’t talk to you about that.”
Maher said he could not discuss Tarr’s claims, because it was a personnel matter.
In his final communication to board members, Tarr criticized Maher’s leadership style. “It is essential that an executive director understand how to collaborate on charting a direction for the organization,” Tarr wrote.
After Tarr’s termination, Maher told the board he would take over the development role himself and, according to multiple sources, received a raise tied to the additional responsibility.
More Red Flags in Filings
To discuss the concerns raised by O’Donahue and Tarr, The Post and the Independent asked Rob Razani, who teaches forensic accounting at California State University, Northridge, to review Guide Dogs of the Desert’s public filings. Razani spent decades examining nonprofit information returns for the Internal Revenue Service, including 14 years as a senior team coordinator in the Large Business and International Division of the IRS.
Razani said the concerns raised by O’Donahue and Tarr reflected legitimate red flags. The financial patterns identified by The Post and the Independent—including the $476,790 deficit in 2024, a 28% decline in revenue from 2023 to 2024, recurring fundraising event losses and concerns about financial controls raised by former employees—are the types of issues the IRS considers when deciding whether to initiate an audit, Razani said.
According to GDD’s Form 990 information returns, the organization lost a total of $121,450 on fundraising events over past three years—with net losses of $66,680 in the transition period ending December 31, 2022, $35,344 in 2023, and $19,426 in 2024.
Razani said deficit operations, large losses in investments and assets, multiple years of money-losing events, and the apparent absence of a development director since Tarr’s termination in August 2024 were all concerns.
While the organization lists a development officer, Louise Fasana, on its website, she was hired to focus on grant writing and previously reported to Tarr. Since his departure, she has taken on additional responsibilities and now reports directly to Maher, but employees say the development director role has not been filled.
Razani said that without access to the organization’s internal financial records, he could not determine whether the patterns indicate “malicious and inappropriate behavior by the entity’s management, or if they are simply the result of poor decision-making, lack of business savvy on the part of the management, or even simple bad luck and adverse economic forces.”
However, he said the documented financial patterns were red flags that would typically draw IRS scrutiny.
“Unfortunately, the IRS’s budget for audits is currently strained and out of 100 cases that show red flags like this, perhaps two or three are picked up for examination (probably less for nonprofit entities),” wrote Razani.
Clapp, in response, reiterated again that Guide Dogs is in good financial shape.
“We operate on donations. We operate on foundation support. We operate on planned gifts. We operate on estate gifts,” he said. “There’s been a very, very active planned giving program at this organization for years. So there are many, many people out there who have arranged through their estates to support this organization, but we don’t know when that’s going to happen.”
“We don’t know when that’s going to occur,” he added. “So you may start the year with a budget that looks like it’s in big trouble, and by the end of the year, have a budget that’s wonderful.”
Added Maher: “That’s the way that our organization works and our budget works. If you also go look at our endowment, our endowment has been going up every year.”
Said Clapp: “There’s no financial difficulties with this organization,” he said, pointing to its 53-year history and suggesting its endowment reflects its stability. He added that staff departures don’t necessarily signal a problem, but rather that employees either “didn’t fit” or chose to move on.
Clapp declined to elaborate further, adding: “I can’t really answer. I’m not being very helpful, and I apologize … but as soon as you hit personnel stuff, I hit a wall.”
Broader Concerns About Leadership
Former employees said their concerns about safety, leadership and finances reflected what they viewed as a broader pattern of problems inside the organization. Some also pointed to smaller incidents that, in their view, illustrated problems with Maher’s decision-making and priorities.
In the summer of 2024, according to a staff member’s letter to the board, employee text messages reviewed by The Post and the Independent, and interviews with current and former staff, Maher directed staff to euthanize Theo, a young cat who lived on campus and was used in training exercises.
Theo had been diagnosed with urinary crystals, a treatable condition. A veterinarian was “shocked that someone would request to euthanize a young and otherwise healthy cat,” the letter states.
When staff members offered to raise money for Theo’s medical care, text messages reviewed by The Post and the Independent show that Maher refused.
Maher disputed that account, saying: “I did not. That was all under the direction of our medical team and all of the directors. All directors were involved in that decision, and it did not happen.
“The animal had a terminal health condition,” he added, “and under medical advice from our licensed veterinary clinic, and under medical advice, that was the advised thing to do.”
Belinda Mason is the former kennel technician who coordinated with a no-kill animal rescue organization she had worked for previously to take Theo. According to Mason, when she went to get the cat to take it to the rescue organization, Maher still wanted the cat euthanized and told her she was being insubordinate.
Mason said the matter was traumatic for all staff involved because they felt they had to choose between the life of the cat and their jobs.
In the end, she took the cat and later came back for his sister, which was also part of the training program, because they were a bonded pair. The cat received treatment and made a full recovery without surgery. Theo and his sister were later adopted by a loving family; according to Mason and other staff interviews, Theo is alive and healthy.
Employees said that the incident occurred during the same period they were also raising safety concerns that, in their view, remained unresolved by Maher and the board, led by Clapp since 2022.
“At the end of the day, everything rolls up to the board,” Tarr said in an interview. “The board is the only one to hold the executive director accountable … and it was painfully obvious right away that no one on the board understood fundraising. No one on the board had any level of sophistication of experience with fundraising.”
Employees repeatedly said in communications to the board, and in discussions with The Post and the Independent, that they’ve raised concerns not to harm the organization, but because they believe wholeheartedly in the importance of Guide Dogs of the Desert’s mission.
“I truly and deeply love both my job and my co-workers,” one staff member wrote in a letter to the board. “Without proper and decisive leadership, there will be serious and irrevocable damage to the organization.”
This reporting was supported by a grant from the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation. Please consider making a contribution to the foundation at cvjf.org. This story was independently reviewed by attorneys at Lawyers for Reporters. More information on that organization can be found at www.vancecenter.org/initiatives/lawyers-for-reporters.