Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The acting secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs is vowing to crack down on whistleblower retaliation after a private government watchdog released a critical report on the agency's treatment of employees who brought internal problems to light.
Sloan Gibson spoke Tuesday in St. Louis during the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The former bank executive took over the VA in late May following the resignation of Eric Shinseki amid an uproar over treatment delays and falsified records at VA hospitals and clinics nationwide.
Gibson said the agency is "not going to tolerate" an environment in which workers are afraid to speak out about problems.
The Project for Government Oversight says it received complaints from nearly 800 current and former VA workers and veterans about possible wrongdoing.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
