Whistleblower: VA continues to threaten disciplinary action for talking to media

CBS46: Atlanta

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Washington, DC, September 8, 2014 | By Mike Paluska | comments

Scott Davis testified before Congress on July 8. Since then he felt intimidation at work, but said this week he has felt threatened.

Scott Davis told the House Veterans' Committee at a hearing on whistle blowers that the problems he has seen have hurt hundreds of thousands veterans.

Davis is a program specialist at the Veterans Affairs National Health Eligibility Center. Davis reported on a litany of issues at the center that he said including "the possible purging and deletion of over 10,000 veteran health records at the Health Eligibility Center. A backlog of over 60,000 pending health applications. Nearly 40,000 unprocessed applications discovered in January of 2013. These were primarily applications from returning service members from Iraq and Afghanistan."

On Sept. 2, Davis said he went on a national news network to talk about the issues that persist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Shortly after the interview segment, Davis said he started to receive emails from the VA asking that he go before their Administrative Investigation Board, and that he was asked to sign what he described as a gag order, or face disciplinary action.

"This essentially is a non-disclosure agreement that VA is trying to force whistleblowers to sign under the threat of disciplinary action so that they do not speak to the media," Davis said. "It would stop my ability to communicate with the press and veteran service organizations."

Davis alerted the U.S. House of Representatives to the threats he recently received via email at work. Mike Coffman, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, responded with a letter to Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Robert McDonald asking the VA to honor the whistleblower laws currently in place.

The letter stated:

Mr. Davis recently indicated to my staff that he is receiving threatening emails regarding disciplinary action against him. He indicated he is being harassed and investigated and that human resource officials have demanded that he sign a document, without a VA or OMB identification control number, purporting to be a Notice of Witness Obligations, Protections, and Privacy.

Please be assured that retaliation against VA employees that have provided whistleblower information to Congress will not be tolerated. I request a response and explanation within five working days.

Davis showed CBS46'S Mike Paluska the emails he received from the VA that Coffman responded to:

You are advised that you are to appear before the AIB on Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. for the purpose of providing sworn testimony concerning the original charge of the AIB. You will be informed of the specific location to report to as soon as it is known. You will be asked to sign a copy of this Notice at the time your testimony is taken.

You are entitled to Union Representation. Further information regarding your Obligations, Protections, and Privacy Act Matters is contained in the attached NOTICE OF OBLIGATIONS, PROTECTIONS, AND PRIVACY ACT MATTERS.

I have also attached a DESIGNATION OF ADVISOR OR UNION REPRESENTATIVE for you to officially approve either your Union Representative or Advisor.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

When Davis said he would not sign anything and would not cooperate with their internal investigation since he had already testified before Congress, Davis received another e-mail that said:

Mr. Davis, with all due respect the notification that was sent to you and to your representative to appear before the Administrative Investigation Board was not an invitation to which you can decline.

As found in the NOTICE OF WITNESS OBLIGATIONS, PROTECTIONS, AND PRIVACY MATTERS that was furnished to you along with the notice for you to appear, "Employees will furnish information and testify freely and honestly in cases respecting employment and disciplinary matters. Refusal to testify, concealment of material facts, or willfully inaccurate testimony in connection with an investigation or hearing may be ground for disciplinary action.

Davis said that e-mail chain directly threatens his protections as a whistleblower.

"The VA does not have the right to silence and intimidate whistleblowers," Davis said.

Even though he feels uncomfortable at work, Davis said he will continue to work to protect the rights and services veterans deserve.

"It has not changed my work ethic, although I no longer have any trust in the management at VA," Davis said. "I am still, completely devoted to our nation's veterans. And I will continue to do my best to serve them every day I go into my office."

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