This is the first in a series of articles that will look at the Veterans Administration (VA) and how it is failing both the employees and the veterans. The VA is one of the largest health care providers in the US and is government run. This has allowed it to do things however it wants to and it is not held accountable for all of the people it steamrolls. The goal of this series is to bring more attention to what the VA is doing and to have those in power in the VA held accountable for what they have been doing.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) stands is a crucial institution responsible for the well-being of millions of veterans across the United States and is one of the biggest health care providers in the US. It’s mission statement is “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s veterans” (“Federal VA Overview”). Then its vision statement is “to provide veterans the world class benefits and services they have earned and to do so by adhering to the highest standards of compassion, commitment, excellence, professionalism, integrity, accountability, and stewardship” (“Federal VA Overview”). The problem is in order to do this it takes a large workforce to provide these services. They may have noble mission and vision statements but there lies a troubling reality: the pervasive abuse of employees by bad leaders within the organization. This post will look at the horrible leadership that is sending negative impacts reverberating throughout the VA system.
Mismanagement within the VA shows up in various forms, ranging from toxic work environments to blatant disregard for employee well-being. Both of these are largely influenced directly by leadership since it is the leaders that create a business culture. A large aspect of this mismanagement is evident in the prevalence of workplace harassment and discrimination. One example of this is Dr. Lisa Brenner where the VA union had to file a formal report on her that included reports of “emotional, mental and psychological abuse” of employees (Tabachnik). Another current example of this is James Edward Stafford who was hired and has moved up into leadership positions within the VA even though his criminal record is well known by VA staff. Does is name sound familiar to you? A while back he was forced to resign from the Lafayette police force for abuse of power before the police department could fire him. He was trying to save face from the horrible things he had done while sporting a badge. He used his police power to give tickets to his ex-girlfriends boyfriend, stalked her, and lied about her stealing money to try and get her fired from her current job just to mention a few things (The Associated Press). His legal team was able to work wonders and got him out of a felony if he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor (The Associated Press). This doesn’t mean that he didn’t do crime equal to a felony, but that he was able to wiggle his way out of the harsher charges. Unfortunately, this is the state of our legal system where we don’t fully hold people accountable for what they do even if they had been abusing their power when they were supposed to be helping people. Now Stafford is at the VA making it a nightmare place to work for the people under him while he abuses the power that the VA has given him. One example of this is that he has taken Medical System Administrators (MSAs) and thrown them into a call center because he could not handle managing a normal call center. The MSAs were not hired to work in a call center and when they started working at the VA many were told that they were not being hired to work in a call center and that their job would never be call center work. This was the only reason why some of these employees took the job. Now Stafford is breaking the hiring contracts and having workers do call center duties (which is not on their job descriptions) because he can not hire enough staff to work an actual call center due to the mental and emotional abuse that those workers experience under the VA call center structure. He has also been caught lying about having the VA union’s support in his actions and has been reported to HR for it. He has also even told managers to yell at employees to get the work done. There has been report after report to both the union and the VA HR about Stafford, yet the VA continues to employ him. He likes to tell people that he has reformed since his ‘misdemeanor’, but he continues to abuse people in other ways. Some people never change.
VA has consistently ranked among the top federal agencies for whistleblower complaints, highlighting systemic issues within its leadership structure. The Office of Special Counsel has more than 1/3 of its cases coming from reports of the VA retaliating against whistleblowers (Patricia Kime). Such complaints often cite instances of retaliation against employees who speak out against misconduct, fostering an environment of fear and intimidation. This fear and intimidation creates a toxic work environment and negatively impacts employees mental, emotional, and physical health. Studies have found a direct link between a toxic work environment and employee engagement (Rasool SF and others). For the VA this means that the toxic work environment that leaders is creating is then also directly impacting the service that veterans are receiving.
Also, the lack of accountability among VA leadership makes the problem worse. Bad leaders within the VA frequently escape repercussions for their actions, emboldening further abuse and undermining the organization's integrity. Some like Dr. Lisa Brenner are just moved to other locations where they can abuse a different set of employees (Tabachnik). Another example of this is the supervisor that multiple investigations recommended be terminated from the Veterans Medical Center in Loma Linda was kept by higher level administrators (Rob McMillan). Even with many of these abuses going public, which would make most companies change their ways, the VA continues to foster and environment of toxicity.
The negative impact of mismanagement extends beyond individual employees to the overall effectiveness of the VA in fulfilling its mission. High turnover rates among staff, attributed in part to poor leadership, disrupt continuity of care for veterans and impede efforts to address pressing healthcare needs. The loss of workers then also adds to the workload of employees that are already overworked. Moreover, the erosion of employee morale resulting from abuse and neglect hampers productivity and innovation within the organization, hindering its ability to adapt to evolving challenges.
The VA's failure to address these systemic issues reflects a broader pattern of neglect towards its workforce and a knowing disregard for overall human decency. Despite numerous internal investigations and external audits, meaningful reforms have been slow to materialize. In a large meeting of VA employees that had the goal of listening to employee complaints, employees found out that the toxic work environment was impacting most employees. Leadership in this meeting said that they were trying to make changes, but they are moving to slow to help employees that are suffering. The inherent bureaucratic complexities of the VA, coupled with political pressures and budgetary constraints, have contributed to a culture that encourage misconduct and undermines accountability.
Overall, epidemic of employee abuse within the VA underscores the urgent need for comprehensive reform. Bad leaders within the organization continue to exploit their positions of power, perpetuating toxic work environments and compromising the well-being of employees. Employees are given no relief from poor leadership even when they make formal complaints. Addressing this crisis requires a concerted effort to hold accountable those responsible for misconduct, implement robust safeguards against retaliation, and foster a culture of transparency and accountability. Only through such measures can the VA fulfill its commitment to serving those who have served our nation.
Works Cited
Associated Press, The. "Former Lafayette officer receives probation in stalking case." The Denver Post. May 26, 2009. https://www.denverpost.com/2009/05/26/former-lafayette-officer-receives-probation-in-stalking-case/
“Federal VA Overview.” Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://vets.colorado.gov/federal-va-overview#:~:text=To%20provide%20veterans%20the%20world,integrity%2C%20accountability%2C%20and%20stewardship
Kime, Patricia. “Majority of VA Whistleblowers Report Retaliation after Calling out Agency Wrongdoing.” Military.com, May 5, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/05/04/majority-of-va-whistleblowers-report-retaliation-after-calling-out-agency-wrongdoing.html.
McMillan, Rob. “LOMA LINDA VA INVESTIGATED FOR ALLEGATIONS OF EMPLOYEE ABUSE AND HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.” Los Angeles and Southern California News, Weather, Traffic - ABC7 KABC, June 19, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://abc7.com/amp/va-loma-linda-healthcare-system-abuse-hostile-workplace-allegations-whistleblower-complaints-rep-jay-obernolte/13391540/.
Rasool SF, Wang M, Tang M, Saeed A, Iqbal J. “How Toxic Workplace Environment Effects the Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Organizational Support and Employee Wellbeing”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021 Feb 26;18(5):2294. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052294. PMID: 33652564; PMCID: PMC7956351. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/pmc/articles/PMC7956351/
Tabachnik, Sam. “Aurora VA’s Suicide Prevention Center Rife with ‘Emotional, Mental and Psychological Abuse.’” The Denver Post, December 22, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.denverpost.com/2023/12/10/aurora-va-hospital-suicide-prevention-center-abuse/amp/.
Resources
“7 Things You Didn’t Know Happening at VA Hospitals.” AFGE, May 22, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.afge.org/article/7-things-you-didnt-know-happening-at-va-hospitals/.
-AFGE is the VA union. They are putting out information on the VA that the VA doesn’t want people to know about.
Bunch, Joey. "Lafayette cop faces stalking charge." The Denver Post. July 30, 2008. Accessed September 15, 2023. https://www.denverpost.com/2008/07/30/lafayette-cop-faces-stalking-charge/
Casey, Michael. “Federal Watchdog Finds VA Ignored Bullying Complaints.” AP News, December 13, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://apnews.com/general-news-df3d5468b5395bf3b2022b941b6f89d6.
Estes, Andrea. “Veterans Affairs Administration Ignored Complaints of Harassment and Bullying, Federal Watchdog Says.” The Boston Globe, March 5, 2021. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/04/metro/veterans-affairs-administration-ignored-complaints-harassment-bullying-federal-watchdog-says/.
Gooding, Mike. “VA under Fire for Retaliating against Workers Who Disclose Wrongdoing.” 13 News Now, June 16, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/national/military-news/va-under-fire-retaliating-workers-disclose-wrongdoing/291-322e99b5-47cc-4091-92f8-400142f712ea.
Gray, Justin. “VA Worker Says She’s Being Forced to Work with Supervisor Who Judge Found Harassed Her.” WSB-TV Channel 2 - Atlanta, October 30, 2023. https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dekalb-county/va-worker-says-shes-being-forced-work-with-supervisor-who-judge-found-harassed-her/6DPSIDB47JEIPJNSCQCLVXUJGE/?outputType=amp.
-They VA had no right to force the woman to work under a person that a judge found had harassed her. At that point that supervisor should have been fired. This shows a total failure on the VA’s part to protect employees from abuse and shows the VA actually support the abuse.
“Largest Veterans Affairs Employee Union Calls on VA to ‘do Better’ after Arbitrator Finds Agency Guilty of Violating Federal Labor Law.” AFGE, March 13, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024.https://www.afge.org/publication/largest-veterans-affairs-employee-union-calls-on-va-to-do-better-after-arbitrator-finds-agency-guilty-of-violating-federal-labor-law/.
-This one I found interesting for the picture. My past information was that the union couldn’t strike, but this image shows that if workers aren’t able to strike then they can march. This makes me wonder why the union here in Colorado is sitting on its butt when it has received so many complaints about the working conditions and bad leadership in Colorado, and wonder when it is going to do something big to make the VA actually do some change. Or will the union just sit back watching while people like me work to expose the abuses that the VA are actively doing.
Lukitsch, Bill, and Cortlynn Stark. “‘Ghetto,’ ‘Boy’: Former Kansas City VA Employee Files Race Discrimination Lawsuit.” Kansas City Star, July 6, 2021. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://amp.kansascity.com/news/article252606338.html.
-This one shows how VA employees suffer from discrimination from their managers.
“Nurses at Aurora VA Hospital Rally Today.” YouTube, July 17, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrKzSxL0Y_U.
-This shows actual VA staff telling you about their experiences.
Parker, Cherie. “Effects of Harassment on Mental Health.” VA News, July 29, 2022. https://news.va.gov/104031/effects-of-harassment-on-mental-health/.
-When I found this article I had to sickly laugh since the VA does nothing to help the mental health of employees that experience workplace harassment.
“Rubio Blasts Biden Admin for Disregarding His VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act.” Senator Rubio, July 27, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.rubio.senate.gov/rubio-blasts-biden-admin-for-disregarding-his-va-accountability-and-whistleblower-protection-act/.
-You won’t find me agreeing with conservatives that often, but I the case of VA reform, it is massively needed.
Schwebke, Scott. “Mother of VA Loma Linda Employee Who Died by Suicide Files $5 Million Claim.” Redlands Daily Facts, October 2, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2023/10/01/mother-of-va-loma-linda-employee-who-committed-suicide-files-5-million-claim/amp/.
-This article shows that VA employees are so negatively impacted by the work environment that they have even committed suicide. Why is the VA not paying attention to the impacts that leadership is having on workers? Why has the government not directly held the VA accountable for these abuses of power?
Schwebke, Scott. “Va Loma Linda Whistleblowers Mount, Probe Widens into Harassment Allegations.” Redlands Daily Facts, June 19, 2023. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2023/06/16/va-loma-linda-whistleblowers-mount-probe-widens-into-harassment-allegations/amp/.
-This shows how the Loma Linda situation kept escalating.
Tabachnik, Sam. “Head of Aurora VA’s Prosthetics Department Canceled Veterans’ Orders to Eliminate Backlog, Ex-Employees Allege.” The Denver Post, December 12, 2023. https://www.denverpost.com/2023/11/12/aurora-va-hospital-veteran-affairs-prosthetics-department-colorado/.
-This shows an example of how leadership in the VA make bad decisions that negatively impact veterans and then staff are also impacted by then having to deal with all of the angry veterans and those veterans have a right to be angry.
Titus, Jennifer. “New Report Shows VA Has a Way to Go on Handling Harassment Cases.” 10 Tampa Bay, September 9, 2022. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/new-report-va-handling-harassment-cases/67-f7095b04-3177-4e07-b4a7-133c0e310d0e.
Urie, Heath. “Lafayette Police Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Harassment/Stalking.” Boulder Daily Camera, August 15, 2009. Accessed September 28, 2023. https://www.dailycamera.com/2009/08/15/lafayette-police-officer-pleads-not-guilty-to-harassmentstalking/
-This article goes into some of the best detail about Stafford and shows just how crazy of a situation he created and how scary he can be.
U.S. Office of Special Counsel. “2021 Annual Whistleblower program report to Congress.” Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.sec.gov/files/owb-2021-annual-report.pdf
Wagner, Erich. “Vast Majority of VA Employees Have Either Witnessed or Experienced Racism at Work, Survey Finds.” Government Executive, April 14, 2021. Accessed March 4, 2024. https://www.govexec.com/management/2020/08/vast-majority-va-employees-have-either-witnessed-or-experienced-racism-work-survey-finds/167583/.
-There is no way that the issue can be this high of a percent unless the VA was actively ignoring the issue.
Watson, Kathryn. “Trump Signs Bill Making It Easier to Fire Bad VA Employees.” CBS News, June 23, 2017. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/trump-signs-bill-making-it-easier-to-fire-bad-va-employees/.
-This is basically the only thing that Trump did in office that I agree with. The sad thing is even with this, the VA is still holding on to managers/leaders that negatively impact the employee experience.
Wolf, Jeffrey. "Police officer arrested for stalking." 9 News. July 30, 2008. The Denver Post. July 30, 2008. Accessed September 15, 2023. https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/police-officer-arrested-for-stalking/73-342686551
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