4300 VA Employees Fired

[Oceanbound]

4,300 VA Employees Fired, Demoted, or Suspended for Negligence Under Trump

WASHINGTON—Some 4,300 Veterans Affairs (VA) workers have been demoted, fired, or suspended since President Donald Trump took office, Vice President Mike Pence told a room of veterans caregivers on Nov. 26.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/4300-va-workers-fired-demoted-suspended-for-negligence-under-trump_2724418.html

Good!

[Berta]

I know- so sorry if I seemed abrupt Paul when I replied-I apologize-

I hope so too. I regret that any vet or survivor these days has to often practically become a lawyer and a doctor to properly prepare and succeed in their claims.... and deal with disabilities at the same time.And on top of that they might have a vet rep who does not have a clue.

What is wrong with that picture?

EVERYTHING.

 

 

 

[paulstrgn]

Ms. Berta you never need to apologize...I understand exactly where you were coming from. As many of us have said on this site we really appreciate you being on this site and sharing your vast knowledge of how to process a claim. 

[Berta]

Thank you Paul and all of you here help others!

Even if someone  just asks one  question,the answer might  help many reading hadit in hyperspace as guests.

I think us hardcore claimants really get poed sometimes-at how difficult this process is - for some -but sure not for all. Even when we have the proper evidence they need.

But none of us must ever Give Up!

 

[paulstrgn]

I agree we must never give up...if we have filed a valid claim we need to fight it all the way no matter how long it takes!

[GeekySquid]

3 hours ago, Berta said:

But for  the Acountability Act- 4,300 employees would probably still be there.

first and foremost I want to be clear, everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect that. That said, I fail to see how firing cooks and plumbers helps improve care and claims process for Veterans.

Furthermore I just read the full text of the VA Accountability Act, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1094/text/pl?overview=closed,

and while I am not surprised by what I find, I am shocked that more watchdog groups have not had kittens over specific sections. As it relates to cooks and plumbers, the text of the bill almost exclusively designates its scope to be about those occupying Senior Executive Positions. I can find literally 1 line that wipes out the protections of collective bargaining units, which is what covers most government jobs.

There is another line that substantively demands any administrative judge to agree with a termination unless there is overwhelming evidence that the action is fraudulent. Really? The judge must obey the Secretary UNLESS the employee can prove malfeasance in office on their part (that's what fraud is). So much for having three branches of government to balance each other out.

Back to the numbers.

Is your issue with the results from VSRs? or from Doctors? or both? what is your disagreement with Cooks, Housekeepers and Cops at the VA?

these are the numbers per the report.

out of the bragged about 4300, only 1060 were terminated or removed and in fact only 34 medical personnel who were not in a new-hire probationary status were actually terminated.

The VA Accountability Act shed some light on the term "removed". It gives the Secretary the power to A) remove them from their current Senior Executive Position, B) the Secretary "MAY" remove them from the Civil Service.

The 2018 reports addition of the specific category of "terminated" while keeping the "removed" category is a clear indication that most of these people did not get fired from Civil Service or even from the VA itself.

4 hours ago, Berta said:

Many of the VSRs , other RO employees , and medical personnel etc. who got canned were also probably reported by RO employees.

as for this statement, how many people in the VAMC & RO;s are running around reporting housekeepers and boiler technicians? how many hate the gardeners and painters so much they rat them out for some unspecified rule breaking?

I highly doubt that your assumption of probability is on target. Read the Whisteblowers summary report and look at the categories and numbers.

 

That graphic is from the top of the report. Notice the largest area is grey. It represents the Not a Whistle Blower reports the OAWP has lumped into their enforcement actions.  Dig through the report you will see it clearly. 51% of all the stuff OAWP has lumped into the other reports is NOT related to some WB action. That suggests the removal of those cooks etc are either political, personal, budgetary,  or they report lumps in people who quit or transferred out of VA into their annual reports, but don't properly categorize the reasons.

Further, do you really think that VSRs are running around and telling on each other? they don't cross-review each others work as far as I know, so what would be their motivation? their knowledge of rules broken? their basis for complaining beyond spiteful infighting?

To sum it up, there are almost 400K VA Employees, of the 4300 covered in these two reports, 1/4th (about 1000) are medical people, including student nurses & techs. Of the 4300 we only know for 100% sure that 34 medical types were actually Terminated. We can suspect that many of the "removed" individuals were also terminated but we cannot "know" that for certain.

4 hours ago, paulstrgn said:

I am cynical enough to think the 4,300 employees removed were the ones trying to help vets or approved too many claims.

I cannot help but agree with paulstrgn. My suspicion, as unverified as any other opinion, is that those terminated were actual employees instead of contractors.

Further I suspect that those terminated were actually from WB Retaliation, meaning they were the ones who told on bad employees adn internal politics made it boomerang on them. The support I have for this speculation is from the WB report itself.

Look at the dark blue areas at the top of each column. Even the secretary's report acknowledges that a significant part of their remaining work after the NON WB disclosures is spent dealing with infighting and attempts at retaliation by VA employees against other VA employees.

Also look closely at the category of "violation of any law, rule, or regulation". This could literally encompass a parking lot dispute or littering. Did someone smoke a cig within 25 feet of a door? or did someone think a smoker was within 25 feet of a door? either are possible and frankly some non-smokers are a bit rabid on the subject so its potential for a complaint is high.

This has gotten too long, so I will close as I opened.

Everyone has a right their own opinion. I just have heartburn when the information supplied / claims made, amounts to padding, exaggeration or misdirection.

The VA Accountability Act has, so far, not made any significant inroads into improving quality of care or the claims process and despite the attempt by the Administration to tout it as some effective tool, it is so far a turd in a punch bowl.

 

[GeekySquid]

4 hours ago, paulstrgn said:

I hope the VA is firing the correct people.

see this is a nice hope and one I can share with you. Reality and experience lead to a different conclusion in light of the numbers and other surrounding factors.