“Report Wrongdoing.”
This is the message encouraging employees at the Manchester Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Medical Center to report violations of federal law, regulation, or policy. Several agencies are tasked with oversight of VA programs and investigation of complaints, including fraud, waste, abuse, and gross mismanagement.
After years of reporting issues to many members of leadership and their unwillingness to address the malfeasance and injustice that continued, I decided to become a whistleblower. Please read part one of this series for background information.
“Whistleblower”
This word seems to evoke fear in the hearts of Manchester VA employees. I remember a colleague advising me not to talk about the 2015 whistleblower case around a manager who was well-known for retaliation. Conversations about poor management often include lines such as: “They don’t work here anymore. They were a whistleblower.” Or, “Management made it known they didn’t like that person after the whistleblower case.”
Like-minded employees who shared my concerns seemed hesitant to talk after I revealed my whistleblowing to them, and for good reason. I faced severe retaliation for reporting even minor concerns within Manchester, VA, and this evoked a sense of fear, preventing me from becoming a whistleblower sooner. News stories about retaliation in the VA and this GAO report only serve to reinforce this fear. Related:Whistleblower: The Manchester VA is A Microcosm of Everything Wrong With the Federal Government.
Faced with an assortment of oversight agencies to choose from, I filed a whistleblower report with the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP). Within a week I received an email from a representative who asked me for more information, which I provided extensive records with names and dates of each interaction with VA managers. What I did not know was that OAWP does not have investigative authority on most issues, and my case would be forwarded to the Office of Inspector General (OIG).
We want to thank Ron Fawkes for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Steve@GraniteGrok.com.
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“Do Not Reply”
Once my case was forwarded to OIG, I was cut off from all human interaction. I received emails only from a “Do Not Reply” email address informing me to use an online portal if I needed to submit more information. I asked to remain anonymous until I could speak with someone from OIG, thinking there would be some sort of investigation at Manchester VA. About a week later, OIG sent me an email stating they closed my case without investigation and forwarded the case to VA New England Headquarters. The email indicated I could call this office for follow-up, but they cut and pasted the address and phone number from their own website. The final email indicated there is no appeal process and seemed to discourage any further communication. I made two attempts to call OIG, where a voice message tells the caller that OIG “does not respond to requests of status of complaints” and “we will only contact you if we close the case or need more information.” The emails had similar wording, stating you may never hear from anyone. When I did speak with the telephone representative, I asked if I could have a point of contact at the New England Office to follow up. I was informed they could not provide any information and I could file a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Transparency
When I filed FOIA requests, I was sent only my emails back to me after requesting all files in my case. They even had the audacity to redact my own name and email address. At one point, a FOIA officer called me and attempted to talk me out of asking for more information. I sent a letter of appeal asking for a case file as to understand better how the decisions were made and to ensure all documents were transferred from the multiple agencies involved. The FOIA officer’s letter back to me, citing the many exceptions to FOIA, case law, and the privacy act, effectively stifled any hope for transparency. Why did they tell me to file a FOIA request in the first place? When I called the New England VA Headquarters, nobody returned my call.
Questions
Unsure if my concerns for the care of our nation’s Veterans would ever be addressed, I reached out to another whistleblower who informed me they had the same experience with different agencies handing off complaints to each other and no resolution. It seems the agencies tasked with oversight and investigation do not feel the need to speak with whistleblowers. They don’t feel the need to validate concerns brought to them or give any assurance that those concerns will be investigated or addressed in any way. When one agency hands the case off to another, they close the case and provide no follow-up. In my case, the oversight agency sent the case back to the same agency I filed the complaint about in the first place (or so I thought … more on that in part 3).
Are our elected representatives in Washington, DC, aware of this issue? In part 3 of this series, I will reveal my interactions with their staff members.
