House demands that VA secretary release whistleblower’s documents

The chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs this week demanded that VA Secretary Robert McDonald turn over documents that would shed light on why his department suspended an employee who exposed the drug arrest of a high-ranking VA official.

Rep. Jeff Miller, Florida Republican, told the VA to provide his staff with copies of administrative reports, testimonies and depositions relating to Joseph Colon-Christensen, the employee who was suspended. Mr. Miller said he is conducting an investigation into whistleblower retaliation at the VA.

Mr. Colon-Christensen previously told The Washington Times that he is concerned he has been targeted for sharing information with Mr. McDonald’s office about the arrest in April of DeWayne Hamlin, director of the VA’s Caribbean network.

Mr. Colon-Christensen was put on notice of his proposed firing after alerting the VA about the arrest of Mr. Hamlin, though the investigation did not mention anything about that disclosure.

But both Mr. Colon-Christensen and his attorney told The Times in September that the timing of the termination notice suggested the disciplinary action could be retaliatory, despite VA pledges to encourage whistleblowers to come forward.

In the end, Mr. Colon-Christensen received a three-day suspension.

“The leadership in San Juan is trying to use me and others as an example to stop reporting wrongdoing,” he told The Times recently after getting word of the suspension.

Mr. McDonald, who was tapped to clean up the VA after reports of secret waiting lists and botched care caused a national scandal, took office with a vow to protect whistleblowers who raised concerns.

In the Hamlin case, arrest reports obtained by The Times show the VA official repeatedly refused a breathalyzer and declined to identify the source of a narcotic painkiller pill found in his pocket after a Florida sheriff’s deputy spotted him in a parked car after 1 a.m. in April.

The Pasco County state’s attorney’s office later dropped drug possession charges over “concerns about the stop,” according to a memo obtained by The Times. A drunken-driving charge also was tossed.

In email to The Times, Mr. Hamlin called the arrest a misunderstanding. He also noted that he was being treated for a medical condition. He declined to discuss the arrest report because he did not want to discuss his personal medical information.

Mr. Colon-Christensen was suspended for three days over what the VA deemed an unauthorized disclosure of information. Records in the case reviewed by The Times, which were provided by Mr. Colon-Christensen, show that violation stemmed from emails that he had sent to a VA employee at another facility raising concerns about hiring practices.

Mr. Colon-Christensen told The Times that he notified VA officials in Washington on Aug. 21 about Mr. Hamlin’s arrest. He said he was concerned that a medical director was stopped with a controlled substance.

Mr. Colon-Christensen’s attorney, Ruy V. Diaz-Diaz, has said the timing of the notices “raises the question of whether or not this is another way of retaliating against an employee who happens to be whistleblowing.”

When contacted about Mr. Colon-Christensen’s claims, VA officials have declined to comment, citing a policy that prohibits discussing personnel matters.

But the agency’s communications office has pointed to public statements by Mr. McDonald, who has called whistleblower retaliation “unacceptable and intolerable.”

“We are working hard to create and sustain a climate that embraces constructive dissent, welcomes critical feedback and ensures compliance with legal requirements,” Mr. McDonald told reporters shortly after he took over the job in the wake of a scandal that forced the ouster of his predecessor, Eric K. Shinseki. “That climate mandates commitment to whistleblower protections to all employees.”

The VA’s treatment of whistleblowers has been a persistent concern after a scandal last year into the manipulation of wait times at medical centers, which has been one of the metrics the agency uses to dole out bonuses. Those problems, long simmering, came to light after whistleblowers came forward.

But the promise of a culture change hasn’t kept whistleblowers from taking their cases to court. The Times has reported on cases filed in the wake of the wait time scandal, such as a former staff psychologist in South Dakota who claims she was punished for flagging unhealthy building conditions.

Lawmakers are counting on whistleblowers to help inform them as the House probes agency contracting abuses among other issues in Congress.

“We’ve done certain things to protect whistleblowers and will continue to do so,” said Rep. Mike Coffman, Colorado Republican, who chairs an investigations subcommittee overseeing the VA.