美国国家公共电台 NPR For VA Whistleblowers, A Culture Of Fear And Retaliation

 

For VA Whistleblowers, A Culture Of Fear And Retaliation¹

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

There is a deep divide within the Department of Veterans Affairs over how the agency handles whistleblowers, employees who report mismanagement, fraud, abuse. In several strongly worded letters released this week, the VA's inspector² general voiced concern that the VA office charged with protecting whistleblowers is failing to turn over key records. These are records that deal with roughly 170 employee retaliation complaints that come in each month. The VA's acting³ secretary, Peter O'Rourke, fired back, accusing the inspector general's office of abusing its authority. Watchdog groups are saying this dispute raises some serious questions about whether the VA can police itself. NPR's Eric Westervelt has been investigating this. His focus this morning is on the VA's actions in central Alabama.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE⁴: One of Donald Trump⁵'s key campaign pledges was to do better by the 9 million veterans the VA serves in the wake of 2014 scandals involving atrocious wait times and inefficiencies that hospitals in Arizona, Alabama and elsewhere tried to cover up.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What happened was a national disgrace.

WESTERVELT: Just a few months into his term, President Trump signed a bill that aims to change that and to better shield VA employees who call out problems.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: This bill protects whistleblowers who do the right thing. We want to reward, cherish and promote the many dedicated⁶ employees at the VA.

WESTERVELT: The Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act expanded the authority and support for the VA's office that now shares the bill's name. But almost a year later, there's skepticism the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection is living up to its mission.

SHEILA MEUSE: We've got a very sick organization. The important thing is to squelch⁷ the whistleblowers, so to speak. It's like shoot the messenger because it's not the message we want to hear.

WESTERVELT: Sheila Meuse has more than 30 years of federal service at VA hospitals across the country. In those years, she rose from a clinician to, in 2014, briefly⁸ serving as the third in command of the VA's Central Alabama Health Care System. Just four months into her new job in Alabama, Meuse helped expose unethical practices, part of that scandal that played in multiple VA hospitals across the country.

MEUSE: The first thing I blew the whistle on was initiating⁹ the fact-finding for the wait times issues that were brought to my attention in 2014.

WESTERVELT: Central Alabama was investigated back then by the Office of Inspector General, which confirmed it had some of the worst wait times in the country. But the scandal in Alabama also involved misconduct, negligence¹⁰ and cover up. Several thousand veteran X-rays were never read, and one VA employee in Tuskegee even took a veteran in recovery to a crack house and helped the veteran buy drugs. The employee even charged the VA several hundred dollars overtime¹¹ to pay for the drug binge.

Meuse and her direct boss Richard Tremaine gave inspectors¹² evidence that the then-director had known about cooking the patient wait time books and other mismanagement. That director, James Talton, was eventually fired in 2014 for neglect of duty. Yet lost in all that scandal was what happened to whistleblowers Tremaine and Meuse who helped expose all the wrongdoing.

MEUSE: We were excluded. We were yelled at. I was detailed¹³ to another facility. I was met by nothing but retaliation, resistance, shunning¹⁴. It was just a horrible, horrible experience - totally a nightmare.

WESTERVELT: The Atlanta VA's regional office launched a probe of Meuse and Tremaine. They were isolated¹⁵ and stripped of duties. Atlanta wanted to know if the two whistleblowers had behaved in a way, quote, "consistent with the VA's core values." Tremaine eventually took a VA management job in Colorado. Meuse quit and now sells real estate in Montgomery. How Meuse went from a whistleblowing hospital administrator¹⁶ to a real estate agent tells you a lot about how the VA deals with those who speak out. As we reported yesterday, the retaliation in central Alabama since Meuse and Tremaine were targeted appears to have only gotten worse. She's one of dozens of current and former employees there we interviewed who detailed a toxic¹⁷ culture of retribution.

Workers say the retaliatory¹⁸ tactics run the gamut²⁰ from sophomoric²¹ - a shift manager pouring salt into a subordinate's coffee cup - to hard to fathom²² - isolation²³ rooms used as psychological coercion²⁴. Meuse is not convinced the VA's newly renamed and reorganized Office of Whistleblower Protection, or OAWP, can fix what she calls an abuse of ethos that runs deep in some parts of the agency.

MEUSE: I don't think naming an office is how you fix an organizational culture that is really rancid and full of cronyism²⁵, favoritism, the old guard that takes care of themselves to maintain the status quo instead of really looking for folks that want the best for the veterans and the veterans' health care.

WESTERVELT: Many watchdog groups agree. The complaints about Mr. Trump's newly created office include that it's understaffed and that investigations²⁷ drag on with seemingly no end in sight. And this month, the VA's own inspector general wrote a scathing²⁸ letter to the acting VA secretary, charging that the Whistleblower Protection Office was failing to live up to its name by withholding²⁹ cases and key information. The acting VA secretary pushed back, accusing the inspector general's office of abuse of authority and mismanagement. Tom Devine with the nonprofit Government Accountability Project says his biggest problem with the OAWP is that it lacks enforcement bite.

TOM DEVINE: Until they get some enforcement teeth, all they're going to be is background noise. And right now, the situation at the VA is by far the most intolerable in the government.

WESTERVELT: Central to the problem is that whistleblowers' retaliation complaints can often land right back at the feet of the very people accused of doing the retaliation. In Alabama and Georgia, as we've reported, it's a common tactic¹⁹ to open up a counter investigation²⁶ of the worker who raises issues. That often includes nebulous charges the whistleblower is creating a hostile environment.

JACKIE GARRICK: I haven't heard anyone tell me that when they've gone to this office of accountability that they've actually been assisted.

WESTERVELT: Jackie Garrick is founder³⁰ of the nonprofit Whistleblowers of America. She says at least 80 percent of all cases that come into her office are from VA employees. Garrick says VA managers in some districts have weaponized counter investigations to slow down or thwart³¹ charges of wrongdoing. That tool and the circular firing squad³² nature of the VA investigating itself, Garrick says, raise questions about whether the OAWP can really protect VA workers who speak up.

GARRICK: You've got to be really careful when you start to bring in the VA people who work for the other VA people to do an investigation. That's not going to be fair and objective. You've got too many incestuous cycles, and I think you need to break some of that.

WESTERVELT: How to break that will be a key challenge for Robert Wilkie, President Trump's choice for VA secretary, if he's confirmed to lead the nation's second-largest bureaucracy. Eric Westervelt, NPR News.

 

1 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

7 squelch   

v.压制，镇压；发吧唧声

参考例句：

• The President wants to squelch any perception that the meeting is an attempt to negotiate.总统想要消除任何视本次会议为谈判尝试的看法。
• You cannot squelch wanting.你不能压制要求。

8 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

9 initiating   

v.开始( initiate的现在分词 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员

参考例句：

• He is good at initiating projects but rarely follows through with anything. 他善于创建项目，但难得坚持完成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only the perchlorate shows marked sensitiveness and possibly initiating properties. 只有高氯酸盐表现有显著的感度和可能具有起爆性能。 来自辞典例句

10 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

11 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

12 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

14 shunning   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My flight was more a shunning of external and internal dangers. 我的出走是要避开各种外在的和内在的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• That book Yeh-yeh gave me-"On Filial Piety and the Shunning of Lewdness"-was still on the table. 我坐下来，祖父给我的那本《刘芷唐先生教孝戒淫浅训》还在桌子上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

15 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

16 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

17 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

18 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

19 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

20 gamut   

n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识

参考例句：

• The exhibition runs the whole gamut of artistic styles.这次展览包括了所有艺术风格的作品。
• This poem runs the gamut of emotions from despair to joy.这首诗展现了从绝望到喜悦的感情历程。

21 sophomoric   

adj.一知半解的；大学或四年制中学的二年级的

参考例句：

• Do you really believe that sophomoric argument?你当真相信那种幼稚可笑的论点吗？
• As a sophomoric student,it's very happy for me to receive invitation.作为一个二年级的学生，能收到邀请，我自然感到特别开心。

22 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

23 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

24 coercion   

n.强制，高压统治

参考例句：

• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions.既不诱供也不逼供。
• He paid the money under coercion.他被迫付钱。

25 cronyism   

n.任人唯亲，对好朋友的偏袒

参考例句：

• Many small town mayor and city official practice cronyism.许多小镇的市长和大城市的官员都有任人唯亲的行为。
• Bringing business people into politics can also produce corruption and cronyism.商人从政也容易带来腐败和任人唯亲。

26 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

27 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

28 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

30 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

31 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

32 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。