Senate Panel Seeks Greater Protection for VA Whistleblowers

The VA would have to strengthen whistleblower protections for its employees, including by setting up a new office to receive complaints of retaliation, under a VA budget bill (S-2806) passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The measure cites numerous findings of reprisal against VA employees who made disclosures regarding manipulation of patient scheduling records and other matters, saying that reprisal is “reprehensible” and that the department needs to ” send a clear and unequivocal message” that it won’t be tolerated. Under the bill, whistleblowers would follow a special process that “begins a paper trail for management to be held accountable for ignoring or mistreating whistleblowers.” Such complaints would be investigated by a new Central Whistleblower Office that would have to be independent of the general counsel’s office. The VA also would have to strengthen training of employees on whistleblower rights and the resources available to them through that office and through already existing channels such as the IG and the Office of Special Counsel. It also would specify that any employee who makes a whistleblowing disclosure that involves information protected by a patient privacy law would not be considered to have violated that law.