VA Whistleblower Abuse: The Story of Paula Pedene

I have real contempt for those in positions of power who engage in abusive treatment of those within their ranks trying to do the right thing.

There are countless reasons why our nation is literally and figuratively “broke.” One of the reasons, though, is that the waste, fraud, and abuse within so many government agencies is tolerated — at taxpayer expense — for the benefit of those engaged in wasteful if not corruptible practices.

While we hear the hue and cry of many political fakers who would claim to do the right thing by whistleblowers, the professional abuse of countless of our fellow citizens persists. Let's navigate and read of the experience of Paula Pedene, a woman who tried to do the right thing at the VA.

The Washington Post provides a chilling expose: 

On her 71st workday in the basement, Paula Pedene had something fun to look forward to. She had an errand to run, up on the first floor.

“Today, I get to go get the papers. Exciting!” she said. “I get to go upstairs and, you know, see people.”

The task itself was no thrill: Retrieve the morning's newspapers and bring them back to the library of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs hospital. The pleasure was in the journey. Down a long, sunlit hallway. Back again, seeing friends in the bustle of the hospital's main floor.

Then, Pedene got back in the elevator and hit “B.” The day's big excitement was over. It was 7:40 a.m.

“I will not be able to do this forever,” Pedene said later that day.

Pedene, 56, is the former chief spokeswoman for this VA hospital. Now, she is living in a bureaucrat's urban legend. After complaining to higher-ups about mismanagement at this hospital, she has been reassigned — indefinitely — to a desk in the basement.

In the Phoenix case, investigators are still trying to determine whether Pedene was punished because of her earlier complaints. If she is, that would make her part of a long, ugly tradition in the federal bureaucracy — workers sent to a cubicle in exile.

In the past, whistleblowers have had their desks moved to break rooms, broom closets and basements. It's a clever punishment, good-government activists say, that exploits a gray area in the law.

The whole thing can look minor on paper. They moved your office. So what? But the change is designed to afflict the striving soul of a federal worker, with a mix of isolation, idle time and lost prestige.

In Phoenix, Pedene believes she is stuck in the basement now because of something she did four years ago.

At the time, she was a 20-year employee at the hospital who oversaw everything from news releases to the hospital newsletter to the annual Veterans Day parade. In 2010, Pedene joined a group that complained to VA's upper management about the Phoenix hospital's director. They alleged that the director had allowed budget shortfalls and berated subordinates.

And it seemed to work. VA's inspector general investigated and found an $11 million shortfall in the hospital's budget. The director retired voluntarily. “I felt we had actually done the right thing,” Pedene said.

But that turned out to be the beginning of her troubles, not the end.