VA's Whistleblower Office Retaliated Against Whistleblowers And Buried Complaints
from the as-usual-we-are-all-shocked-SHOCKED-that-this-would-turn-out-this-way dept
I think President Trump likes the idea of whistleblowers. As long as they're coughing up tips about Deep State conspiracies against the administration, he's probably cool with it. No one's done that yet, so he's stuck battling whistleblowers who are blowing the whistle in his general direction.
Whistleblower protections aren't what they should be. There are laws on the books and guidelines in every agency policy manual that affirm the need to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. Those who have actually blown the whistle -- and used the proper channels -- realize those pretty words don't mean much when government agencies and officials are deeply invested in self-preservation. Trump's call to unmask the Ukraine phone call whistleblower is just a very public expression of the federal government's general antipathy towards accountability.
An office set up by the Trump administration specifically to collect evidence of misconduct and wrongdoing at the Department of Veterans Affairs has done the opposite of what was asked of it. The VA's Inspector General was asked to investigate by several senators who raised concerns about the office's refusal to implement whistleblower protections. It seemed to prefer to engage in retaliation, as the OIG report [PDF] confirms.
The office Trump established -- the VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OAWP) -- turned out to be completely misnamed. Some of this the Inspector General has chalked up to insufficient training and unclear policies. But what's detailed in this part of the report looks like nothing more than people doing the wrong thing intentionally to protect the people they actually want to protect -- a group that doesn't include whistleblowers.
From June 2017 to May 2018, the OAWP referred 2,526 submissions to other VA program offices, facilities, or other components that were not all equipped to undertake such investigations and without adequate measures to track the referrals or safeguards to protect whistleblowers’ identities. Of these, at least 51 involved allegations of whistleblower retaliation by a supervisor (and so properly within the investigative authority of the OAWP). Complainants were not always advised of these referrals. Without guidance, OAWP personnel did not take sufficient steps to protect complainants’ identities and prevent their concerns from being sent to the very facilities or network offices where the complainant worked or that were the subject of the allegations.
The OAWP also failed to establish safeguards sufficient to protect whistleblowers from becoming the subject of retaliatory investigations. One troubling instance involved the OAWP initiating an investigation that could itself be considered retaliatory. At the request of a senior leader who had social ties to the OAWP Executive Director, the OAWP investigated a whistleblower who had a complaint pending against the senior leader. After a truncated investigation, the OAWP substantiated the allegations without even interviewing the whistleblower.
In addition, former OAWP leaders made comments and took actions that reflected a lack of respect for individuals they deemed “career” whistleblowers. Moreover, at a time when the office was failing to meet its statutory requirements and purposes, then Executive Director Nicholas directed about 15 percent of the OAWP’s FY 2018 budget to be obligated for contracts beyond its core mission.
The new office was charged with investigating "all allegations and concerns." This tagline was featured on its website, sending the public the message that it was serious about its job. It wasn't.
From June 23, 2017, to December 31, 2018, the OAWP Triage Division received at least 3,694 submissions. Of these, only 547 were referred by the Triage Division to the Investigations Division… The OAWP’s advertised mission of investigating “all allegations and concerns” was not consistent with its practices…
The OAWP also failed to forward complaints it was specifically instructed to forward to the Inspector General. These complaints that never reached the OIG included those dealing with abuses of authority and/or criminal violations. When accountability is the goal -- as would seem to be the point of the Executive Order creating this office -- it would make sense to put as many eyes on big issues like this. That didn't happen either. The Inspector General singles out one case of several it never saw until it opened its own investigation of the OAWP.
In April 2018, the OAWP received allegations that a Covered Executive was engaging in contracting abuse, conflicts of interest, and violations of federal ethics rules. Some of these matters included alleged abuses of authority and/or potential felony criminal violations. These allegations were bundled with several others that included whistleblower retaliation and issues within OAWP’s scope. The OIG could locate no records in OAWP’s or OIG’s databases indicating that the contracting abuse, conflict of interest, and ethics allegations had been referred to the OIG despite possibly involving felony violations of federal laws on receiving gifts, making false statements, or other related crimes.
The whole thing is a mess. Whatever's not being undercut by unclear policies or retaliatory actions is being rendered useless by the general ineptness of this additional layer of bureaucracy.
The OAWP lacks comprehensive policies and procedures suitable for its personnel. This is particularly important given that individuals’ reputations are at stake, whistleblowers’ identities must be protected, and the issues on which the OAWP is reporting affect veterans’ lives in tremendously significant ways. Staff are either missing guidance or are piecing together direction largely based on the mandates of a prior office not entirely aligned with OAWP’s legislative scope.
The absence of quality control measures is particularly troubling given the hodgepodge of policies and procedures. Depending on disciplinary officials and VA’s Office of General Counsel to identify OAWP’s investigatory inadequacies cannot be a sustainable solution to effective oversight.
This hodgepodge extends to training and staffing. It all adds up to the VA understanding at some level that its survival depends on it not understanding this directive. Failing at multiple levels keeps complaints from rising to a level where the VA and OAWP might feel compelled to take action. And it was successful -- at least up until the IG completed its investigation -- to keep this chaotic charade off the radar of legislators.
This effort may have been Trump's nod to his promises to "drain the swamp." But this office sank into the swamp almost immediately after its creation in April 2017.
From July 2017 to November 2017, the OAWP received four submissions from four different individuals relating to allegations involving Peter Shelby, who was then serving as VA Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration. The allegations included retaliation, harassment, discrimination, and creating a hostile work environment.
By the time the allegations were under OAWP review, Mr. Shelby had developed a personal relationship with Mr. O’Rourke (then the OAWP executive director) and Mr. Nicholas (then a senior advisor to the OAWP), which included golf outings and other social engagements.
Beyond social engagements, Mr. Shelby had influence over matters of importance to Mr. O’Rourke and Mr. Nicholas. For example, on September 19, 2017, Mr. Nicholas wrote to Mr. Shelby, “Please don’t forget to see about a waiver on my retired annuity. It is a fairly large sum of money for me . . .” Emails reflect that Mr. Nicholas pressed Mr. Shelby for assistance in obtaining the waiver through at least October 2017 and that the matter remained an open question through February 2018.
Email correspondence reflects that, as of March 9, 2018, the Investigations Director had completed the OAWP investigation and was drafting the report. The report was finalized on May 21, 2018, and it concluded that allegations against Mr. Shelby were not substantiated.
Trump actually tried to do the right thing. But this office was set up hurriedly and turned over to people who apparently had little desire to clean up the Department. The OAWP seems far more interested in burying whistleblowers and their reports. It appears to believe its job is to keep the boat from rocking, no matter how troubled the seas nor how agitated its passengers.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: retaliation, va, whistleblower, whistleblowing
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
They are just following the the Bill Barr Method.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
When the routes to report & stop abuse are abused, perhaps the system is broken.
Its nice we pay lip service to people reporting crimes/bad behavior but when the system destroys them to protect the image of those doing wrong... perhaps its time to start over.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
You have no idea what you are talking about. This mess is just an excuse to further cut money and services to veterans again. Starting over as you say will gut the Veterans Administration and that will be a crime.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
AC, agreed.
Trump actually tried to do the right thing. But this office was set up hurriedly and turned over to people who apparently had little desire to clean up the Department. The OAWP seems far more interested in burying whistleblowers and their reports. It appears to believe its job is to keep the boat from rocking, no matter how troubled the seas nor how agitated its passengers.
Trump likes to be seen to be doing the right thing, but when it comes to practicalities he epically fails. Why? Like our own Poundshop version, Boris Johnson, he's not interested in details. He just wants the Shiny Thing. Such people have no business being in office, however noble their intentions, because they make things worse instead of better. Details-oriented people may be boring, but they're the ones we need at the helm.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That his trying to do the right thing is such a rare act that it requires the qualifier “actually” makes me laugh in a melancholy way.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
As does the fact that adding "for once" would not make that statement untrue. :-(
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
If you put "on several occasions, employee tried understanding the requirements of the job" on a performance review, that would be quite detrimental to reemployment.
But it's not all that problematic regarding reelection.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
So you are saying you do not believe it was an action meant to look good (but in actuality be totally ineffectual)?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Doesn't matter what administration is in office...they'd all prefer that the term whistleblower referred to someone standing on a street corner whistling.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
From the beginning, the whole concept of "official channel for whistleblowers" bring the image of asking chickens to report issues within the hen-house to the fox in charge.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Conclusion: same advice as for software vulnerability reports, avoid official channels and do an anonymous dump of everything including supporting evidence somewhere that'll get it as much public attention as possible. And don't discuss the matter with anyone unless they have more to lose than you do if your role becomes public.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's not just the VA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: It's not just the VA
https://www.techdirt.com/submitstory.php
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline
When I worked for the WSFH around a decade ago, we had complaints from all branches of the armed forces and saw improvements in all of them other than the VA. The VA ignored every single report no matter how damning or dangerous while I was there. Hearing about retaliations does not surprise me in the least. The VA needs to be completely removed and started over from the beginning.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline
Its a shame that someone again who does not know what the problems are concerning veterans' needs and a needs for a compassionate medical institution that promised to care for the veterans who are caring for our nation by putting themselves in between the world and our country, a shame that you be given the last word and that being of tearing down that institution in this emphatical political climate where no one could be sure what might rise in its place. Short sighted people overwhelm our systems and institutions and hurriedly erect catastrophes in their place. People who have given everything to this country deserve better than that kind of narrow scope.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline
They deserve a system that actually works and where complaints are dealt with properly and in a timely manner.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"...he's stuck battling whistleblowers who are blowing the whistle in his general direction. "
Well, if they were blowing his whistle, he could get impeached for that too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
That is exactly the stance the government took arresting the discoverers of security breaches and vulnerabilities of some hefty corporate websites early on. I know that a stack overflow vulnerabilty was purposefully left unsecure for at least one of the first audio websites for more than two years after the person who discovered it had reported it to the company several times before reporting it on a slashdot post. Several people have been arrested for high profile hacking and testing websites on their own.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
In our complicated Trumpian world these simple definitions could be useful:
Journalist: Someone who tells you what I want you to know.
Traitor: Someone who tells you what I don't want you to know.
Whistleblower: Someone who tells me what I want to know.
Liar: Someone who tells me what I don't want to know.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
You say that but I doubt you are a disabled veteran or you would know how grievous it is to be treated already by a defunct VA from what already these people have done to run the VA into the ground. Some of those new doctors and admin treat us like anomalies that they seem troubled to have to deal with. You and I don't know who you are, but you are dangerous to me and other veterans who are depending on the VA for compassion and medicine to just stay alive.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Let's not overlook the role "good" people play in retaliation: "Have you ever been fired from a job?" That weeds out whistleblowers. "Resume stability" is another one, since whistleblowers don't have that. "Must have excellent references" puts power in the hands of those who are retaliating, etc.
"HR handles that" means "don't blame ME for what the evil employer who pays me does."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hulu with Live TV
Hello
Just follow these steps to sign up for Hulu with Live TV:
1.Ensure your browser and operating system meets these minimum requirements.
2.Sign in to your account on www.hulu.com/activate .
3.Hover over your account name in the top-right corner.
4.Select Watch Hulu with Live TV Beta.
5.Enable location services for your browser.
6.Enjoy!
http://www.hulucomactivate.us/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
So,
The whisterblower program is being abused by bad actors flooding them with fake complaints.
Got it. That would make sense in the current climate.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: So,
[Zof the Liar asserts facts not in evidence]
(as always)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: So,
How did you come to that conclusion?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Last Word
“Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline
When I worked for the WSFH around a decade ago, we had complaints from all branches of the armed forces and saw improvements in all of them other than the VA. The VA ignored every single report no matter how damning or dangerous while I was there. Hearing about retaliations does not surprise me in the least. The VA needs to be completely removed and started over from the beginning.