Veterans Affairs still plagued by ‘culture of retaliation and intimidation’

By Sarah Westwood:  A congressional panel was told late Monday that a “culture of retaliation and intimidation” is so pervasive within the Department of Veterans Affairs that the Pentagon has half as many whistle-blowers from a workforce that is twice as big.

Carolyn Lerner, head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, told the House Committee on Veterans Affairs’ subcommittee on oversight and investigations that her agency receives twice as many whistle-blower complaints from VA than the Department of Defense even though the Pentagon has double the number of civil service employees.

She was one of a parade of witnesses describing VA as a place where employees who see wrongdoing are too often afraid to blow the whistle for fear of being penalized by their bosses. Read article here:  http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/veterans-affairs-still-plagued-by-culture-of-retaliation-and-intimidation/article/2562982