As a congressional committee continues to probe allegations of hostile working conditions at VA Loma Linda, a new federal report highlights the proliferation of whistleblower retaliation complaints within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
From 2018 to 2022, 69% of the VA’s Prohibited Personnel Practices cases assigned to a federal watchdog agency for investigation involved whistleblower retaliation allegations, the Government Accountability Office said in a May report.
PPPs are banned employment-related activities that include discrimination, retaliation and improper hiring. The number of PPP cases from VA employees that include whistleblower allegations has risen over the past five years, according to the GAO report.
The report found that over the four-year period, the independent Office of Special Counsel took an average of about 190 days to investigate VA cases with whistleblower retaliation allegations.
During that same period, only about 5% of the VA’s PPP cases with whistleblower retaliation allegations were closed in favor of the whistleblower. A majority of whistleblower retaliation claims from VA employees are closed due to insufficient evidence, the report says.
Retaliation ‘unacceptable’
Terrence Hayes, a spokesperson for Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, said in a statement that “any retaliation for whistleblowers is unacceptable.”
“At VA, our top priority is delivering world-class care and benefits to the veterans we serve — and that means building a culture where every employee feels empowered and unafraid to raise concerns without fear of reprisal,” Hayes said.
The VA, he said, continues “to place a heavy focus on whistleblower rights and protections training for managers, supervisors, and employees — including communicating the remedies for workers who believe they have experienced retaliation.”
“We still have work to do, and we will not rest until we ensure that every whistleblower is respected,…
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