WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs employees guilty of severe misconduct on the job — including having sex and selling drugs — maintained their employment, while others who attempted to help reform the troubled agency were squeezed out, according to a report by NBC 4 Washington, WTOP’s television news partner.
The NBC 4 investigation team, scouring agency discipline records and documents from the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates retaliation against federal whistleblowers, found numerous examples of leniency against employees after serious breaches of conduct. This included an employee who was caught high on cocaine on the job, and another who had brought a loaded gun and knife onto VA grounds.
On the other hand, the Office of Special Council found that employees who had come forward with complaints about mismanagement and other potential abuses were punished, some forced into retirement , in violation of federal whistleblower protections. This, amid a wave of scandals plaguing the VA system across the country.
