Amid scandal brought on by a rash of veteran suicides in Atlanta, the local VA leadership in 2013 became fixated on stemming bad press coverage and set their sights on an employee whose job is to keep the public informed, a new federal investigation found.
A federal Office of Special Counsel report out Wednesday said the Atlanta VA retaliated against public affairs officer Greg Kendall after he raised concerns about misuse of tax dollars by the hospital's leadership.
Kendall, whose job includes answering questions from the public and reporters, had questioned the Atlanta VA's plan to donate $35,000 to a local charity at a time when the hospital was facing public criticism about underfunding at its mental health unit, the report said.
After an August 2013 story appeared about the charity donation, VA Atlanta leaders assumed he had been the source of the story and went after him. They stripped him of his duties, moved his office and changed his job performance goals, the report said.
“Mr. Kendall did the right thing by raising concerns about an inappropriate expenditure of taxpayer dollars, but the Atlanta VA failed to heed his warnings and instead targeted Mr. Kendall,” said Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, whose office investigates claims of retaliation by whistleblowers within the federal government.
Lerner’s office released its findings Wednesday as it announced a settlement between the VA and Kendall that includes rescinding the retaliatory personnel actions against him as well as a payment for damages. The total was not disclosed.
None of the VA officials who retaliated against Kendall were mentioned by name in the report. The hospital director at the time, Leslie Wiggins, has since been promoted to oversee VA hospitals across the southeast. Wiggins declined an interview request through her spokesman who referred questions to VA officials in Washington.
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