VA targets Phila. staffers for firings, suspension

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday notified at least eight employees at the embattled Philadelphia VA benefits office that it plans to fire or suspend them - a penalty that appears to be unprecedented in the nearly two years since the agency came under scrutiny for mismanagement and misconduct.

The proposed punishments against employees involved in manipulating claims to hide the office's backlog range from a two-week suspension to removal, the VA said in a memo to members of Congress.

The VA said it plans to discipline three other employees from the Germantown office, pending further investigation.

None of the affected employees was identified.

"Final decisions on each action will be made in accordance with the applicable due process procedures," officials said in the statement. "No further information on these proposed actions will be available at this time to ensure the due-process rights of the employees are safeguarded."

The move, more than a year after scrutiny of the office began, comes amid calls from legislators, whistle-blowers, and critics to hold someone accountable for mistakes that potentially delayed thousands of claims across the region and frustrated countless veterans.

VA officials have described the Germantown office - which oversees benefits for 825,000 veterans in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware - as the most troubled in the department's benefits network.

A 10-month probe by the VA Office of Inspector General uncovered problems ranging from veteran inquiries that sat ignored to data manipulation and a toxic relationship between management and staff.

The inspectors detailed their findings in an April report, and the VA then convened a separate investigative board to review personnel. Friday's actions stemmed from that board's findings.

VA officials did not return requests for additional information about the penalties.

It is unclear if the eight workers include Lucy Filipov, the office's assistant director, or Gary Hodge, director of its pension management center. Both were put on temporary paid leave last month after an internal report criticized Filipov for hosting a party at her South Jersey home where she encouraged her workers to pay Hodge's wife, a self-described medium, to contact the dead.

Kristen Ruell, a whistle-blower who has twice testified before Congress about flaws at the office, was reserved after hearing about Friday's decision. Ruell, who has been sharp in her criticism and persistent in her calls for accountability, said she was relieved.

"For a whistle-blower, it can be a long, lonely road," she said. "I actually feel like there's closure, and I might get a good night sleep tonight."

Ruell said she hopes morale at the office, which employs more than 1,000 people, will improve.

Diana Rubens, who last year transferred from Washington to become the facility's new director, on Friday sent an office-wide e-mail stressing the desire to move forward. She said some of the "big issues that loom" will be resolved in the next few weeks and months.

"The hard part has been not being able to give anyone a sense of when the formal components will be complete, so that we might truly move to putting the issues behind us," Rubens wrote in the e-mail, obtained by The Inquirer.

She said that of the 35 formal recommendations made by the inspector general, two have been closed by investigators, and the VA has requested that 16 more be closed. She said two cannot be resolved because of a "resource issue," and the agency is actively working on the remaining 15.

Allison Hickey, the VA's undersecretary for benefits, had said that 90 percent of the problems the inspector general uncovered had been resolved.

"The critiques, criticisms, and areas for improvement that have been identified for us cannot be our sole focus," Rubens wrote. "We must continue to look inward, to ensure we are operating from the highest integrity in all that we do."

Several members of Congress said they were encouraged by Friday's announcement. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Republican whose district includes Bucks County, said, "Cleaning house of those employees who put themselves ahead of our veterans" starts the process of regaining veterans' trust.

But Rep. Ryan Costello, a Republican from Chester County, stressed that the VA has yet to release the report written by its internal investigative board. Costello and other members of Congress have requested copies.

Rep. Patrick Meehan, a Delaware County Republican, called it "troubling" that the VA would release the information at 4:30 p.m. on a Friday, "hoping no one takes notice over the weekend."