Whistleblower act doesn’t work

The Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 was designed to hold employees accountable, investigate allegations and protect whistleblowers from retaliation, including from supervisors, at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It isn’t working.

The VA’s Office of the Inspector General investigated complaints from June 2017 until August 2019. The OIG discovered that:

• The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection (OWAP) often farmed out investigations instead of handling them in-house. In 2,526 cases it sent investigations to other departments that weren’t equipped to handle them.

• It failed to protect whistleblowers’ identities, which resulted in 51 cases of whistleblower retaliation.

• OAWP butted in with investigations into areas that weren’t within its scope and ignored some of those it should have handled. It was supposed to refer criminal cases to the Office of the Inspector General, but did so only 38 times.

• It didn’t provide clear written guidance or training for personnel. More than a year after it started, the OAWP still didn’t have a way of identifying errors and ensuring that the work was not biased. Additionally, it didn’t get all the facts, including witness statements, in each case.

One case was investigated in a way that was likely intentionally retaliatory against the whistleblower by a supervisor who was apparently a social pal of someone high up in OAWP. The whistleblower (and others) had previously complained about the supervisor. The whistleblower was never even interviewed, and the others were hesitant to report allegations because of the social ties of the two senior staff.

• Many cases took over a year to close. Discipline or penalties were random and subjective. Evidence was withheld. In cases of whistleblower retaliation, the whistleblower was forced to agree to having his/her identity revealed.

Wow!

Where is the incentive for those who want to do the right thing to come forward?