VA Lost a Clerk’s Disability File, then Fired Him for Running to Congress

The Veterans Affairs Department’s move to terminate a Baltimore-based clerk after he contacted a member of Congress over a lost benefits file constituted a prohibited personnel practice, the Office of Special Counsel announced on Tuesday.

The OSC found that VA violated the Civil Service Reform Act when it discharged Bradie Frink, an Army veteran on disability, for petitioning a lawmaker for help in locating his lost claims file. The OSC noted that a similar case is pending with The Merit Systems Protection Board.

The VA last month agreed to settle the clerk’s complaint and reinstate him with back pay and compensatory damages for emotional distress. His first day back on the job was Tuesday.

Frink, who worked as a GS-5 time-and-leave clerk in the Baltimore Regional Office of the Veterans Benefits Administration, had asked the VA to update his service-connected disability payments file to add his child as a beneficiary. But the department could not locate his file after he arrived at the Baltimore office in February 2013.

In frustration, Frink wrote to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who forwarded questions to the VA’s Baltimore office, which “was under scrutiny for the way it was processing veterans’ benefits claims,” the special counsel’s office said.  Within two weeks, VA managers discussed firing Frink “although no concerns had previously been documented regarding his performance,” the OSC report said. He was terminated on July 12, 2013, before his probationary period ended.

Investigators determined that “the VA’s allegations about Mr. Frink lacked evidentiary support; management’s testimony was inconsistent and lacked candor; other witnesses did not corroborate the agency’s version of the events; and termination was an excessive penalty for the alleged misconduct.” Further, OSC found, “one of the VA officials involved in Mr. Frink’s termination showed animus, and all three officials involved had a clear motive to retaliate against him.” OSC recommended disciplinary action against two of Frink’s supervisors.

“The constitutional right to petition Congress must be guaranteed for all Americans,” said Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, who is citing the case as an opportunity for all agency managers to better understand prohibited personnel practices. “Federal agencies cannot deny their employees this right even if it leads to scrutiny of their operations. The VA’s leadership worked with OSC to resolve this troubling case.”

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