The Office of Special Counsel says that in 2015 it set a record for favorable actions for whistleblowers such as stays, corrective actions, disciplinary actions, and systemic changes to agency practices.
The agency has received a surge of retaliation complaints in recent times, many of them from VA employees complaining of actions taken against them for disclosing falsification of patient care records or for cooperating with investigators looking into such allegations.
OSC said it obtained 277 favorable actions—either through negotiations with the employing agency or by filing complaints with the MSPB–for 212 employees who filed complaints of prohibited personnel practices, an increase of 59 percent in the number of actions, the large majority of which involved whistleblower retaliation.
OSC credited the expansion of its alternative dispute resolution program for increasing the number of corrective actions through settlements.