Acting VA secretary Sloan Gibson met with the Office of Special Counsel recently and committed the department to follow through with OSC recommendations to uphold whistleblower protections.
OSC recently announced it was investigating allegations of whistleblower reprisal from 37 VA employees across 19 states – including allegations of retaliation for disclosing improper scheduling practices and other threats to patient care.
Sloan reaffirmed that the VA would work to protectemployees from retaliation for reporting problems. The VA said Sloan and Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner agreed on ways they could streamline their work to ensure whistleblower protection during the course of an OSC investigation.
The VA also announced that former VA general counselLeigh Bradley would temporarily serve as special counsel to Sloan. Currently, Bradley serves as director of the DoD Standards and Conduct Office.