'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets

[NonoBadDog]

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets

Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., on Thursday demanded that the Philadelphia office of the Department of Veterans Affairs investigate tweets from last year in which a top official may have been calling a VA whistleblower a "piece of s--t."

Lina Giampa, the VA's human resources manager in Philadelphia, wrote two mean tweets in June 2014, on the same day that officials started a probe into the VA's healthcare scandal.

It's not clear who Giampa was tweeting at, but the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that it may have been aimed at whistleblowers in Philadelphia who were exposing fraud at the agency.

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets | Washington Examiner

I often wonder what is up with the VA and how come only one person has been fired after all the problems.

 

[fmw]

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets

Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., on Thursday demanded that the Philadelphia office of the Department of Veterans Affairs investigate tweets from last year in which a top official may have been calling a VA whistleblower a "piece of s--t."

Lina Giampa, the VA's human resources manager in Philadelphia, wrote two mean tweets in June 2014, on the same day that officials started a probe into the VA's healthcare scandal.

It's not clear who Giampa was tweeting at, but the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that it may have been aimed at whistleblowers in Philadelphia who were exposing fraud at the agency.

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets | Washington Examiner

I often wonder what is up with the VA and how come only one person has been fired after all the problems.

Government incompetence, government corruption, government rules and public sector unions. The solution for the VA is simple. They need to close it, sell the hospitals and give veterans medicare. It will save all kinds of money and provide better health care for the veterans. The fact that we put up with it as a society is absolutely amazing to me.

 

[beerftw]

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets

Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., on Thursday demanded that the Philadelphia office of the Department of Veterans Affairs investigate tweets from last year in which a top official may have been calling a VA whistleblower a "piece of s--t."

Lina Giampa, the VA's human resources manager in Philadelphia, wrote two mean tweets in June 2014, on the same day that officials started a probe into the VA's healthcare scandal.

It's not clear who Giampa was tweeting at, but the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that it may have been aimed at whistleblowers in Philadelphia who were exposing fraud at the agency.

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets | Washington Examiner

I often wonder what is up with the VA and how come only one person has been fired after all the problems.

alot of their problems are of the system itself,not just lazy or corrupt employees.

the va just like any govt organization that handles benefits,is usually given deadlines on budget,how many they accept,how many are minorities,or any other whacky thing going on.they are given red tape and told to use it,just to keep things slow and complicated to either deter people from filing or recieving benefits or to delay things until the next fiscal year.


and it is not just the va,active military does the same.for a while they had people waiting years for their medical retirement from active military,some permantly unable to do any work,so limited.but they would wait endlessly and get their paperwork pushed back for a sentence not having a period or any other slight technicality they could get away with.many of them they hoped would give up ets and go through the va instead of being medically discharged or retired through active duty.and the va can takes years to get compensation even for someone unable to walk.



there are scammers in every govt system,but the level of red tape does little to deter scammers and mostly just deters all people.

 

[NonoBadDog]

alot of their problems are of the system itself,not just lazy or corrupt employees.

the va just like any govt organization that handles benefits,is usually given deadlines on budget,how many they accept,how many are minorities,or any other whacky thing going on.they are given red tape and told to use it,just to keep things slow and complicated to either deter people from filing or recieving benefits or to delay things until the next fiscal year.


and it is not just the va,active military does the same.for a while they had people waiting years for their medical retirement from active military,some permantly unable to do any work,so limited.but they would wait endlessly and get their paperwork pushed back for a sentence not having a period or any other slight technicality they could get away with.many of them they hoped would give up ets and go through the va instead of being medically discharged or retired through active duty.and the va can takes years to get compensation even for someone unable to walk.



there are scammers in every govt system,but the level of red tape does little to deter scammers and mostly just deters all people.

I went through that military medical retirement thing. It took a year and a half and I was on the fast track. I have to say it was a damn sight faster than VA. That is pretty sad. At least I was getting paid.

 

[beerftw]

I went through that military medical retirement thing. It took a year and a half and I was on the fast track. I have to say it was a damn sight faster than VA. That is pretty sad. At least I was getting paid.

yeah but i have personally known a guy who had to have back surgery,could barely walk,and could not even bend over without asistance,over 3 years in before medical retirement.

since they can not kick you out of the military during meb hearings for a pt test or even passing an ets date until it is complete,they drag it out hoping you will say screw im tired of fighting and leave.

the va has averages 1 1/2 to 2 years for people i know for most average claims,while people with a whole lotta claims have taken up to five years.both systems seem to try as hard as possible to make you give up.

 

[WSUwarrior]

Keep in mine...ALL hospitals are going to turn into the VA when liberal Democrats get their way.


And its already starting.

 

[NonoBadDog]

yeah but i have personally known a guy who had to have back surgery,could barely walk,and could not even bend over without asistance,over 3 years in before medical retirement.

since they can not kick you out of the military during meb hearings for a pt test or even passing an ets date until it is complete,they drag it out hoping you will say screw im tired of fighting and leave.

the va has averages 1 1/2 to 2 years for people i know for most average claims,while people with a whole lotta claims have taken up to five years.both systems seem to try as hard as possible to make you give up.

THat is the strategy, make a person fight till they give up. With me I kept fighting. They finally realized it and decided I was not worth putting up with. I just kept raising hell. I found making friends with the docs helped a bunch too.

 

[Risky Thicket]

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets

Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., on Thursday demanded that the Philadelphia office of the Department of Veterans Affairs investigate tweets from last year in which a top official may have been calling a VA whistleblower a "piece of s--t."

Lina Giampa, the VA's human resources manager in Philadelphia, wrote two mean tweets in June 2014, on the same day that officials started a probe into the VA's healthcare scandal.

It's not clear who Giampa was tweeting at, but the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday that it may have been aimed at whistleblowers in Philadelphia who were exposing fraud at the agency.

'Piece of s--t': Lawmaker demands investigation into VA's mean tweets | Washington Examiner

I often wonder what is up with the VA and how come only one person has been fired after all the problems.

I know this; there hasn't been much improvement in Phoenix. I moved my files to Tucson about 6 or 8 months before the fit hit the shan. I'd had enough. Tucson had a much better reputation than Phoenix VA. I like them. So far I've seen no reason to return to the Phoenix VA.

In my opinion many people who work in the system are good people and are trying hard, but upper administration was/is where the problem is. We'll see if the new Sec. of VA can make a difference.

 

[Risky Thicket]

Keep in mine...ALL hospitals are going to turn into the VA when liberal Democrats get their way.


And its already starting.

You obviously aren't in the VA system.

 

[NonoBadDog]

You obviously aren't in the VA system.

I am, technically. They sent me one of those cards where I can pick my doctor because I live in the mountains and pretty far away form the closest VA office. The funny thing is my doctor's office is about 3 miles from the VA office. My wife has pretty good health insurance for us so I use that. It isn't an Obamacare policy either, thank goodness. Her company is self insured.

 

[NonoBadDog]

I know this; there hasn't been much improvement in Phoenix. I moved my files to Tucson about 6 or 8 months before the fit hit the shan. I'd had enough. Tucson had a much better reputation than Phoenix VA. I like them. So far I've seen no reason to return to the Phoenix VA.

In my opinion many people who work in the system are good people and are trying hard, but upper administration was/is where the problem is. We'll see if the new Sec. of VA can make a difference.

The VA in Phoenix about killed my brother twice.

 

[imagep]

Government incompetence, government corruption, government rules and public sector unions. The solution for the VA is simple. They need to close it, sell the hospitals and give veterans medicare. It will save all kinds of money and provide better health care for the veterans. The fact that we put up with it as a society is absolutely amazing to me.

Absolutely.

Government cant really do anything well, except spend money. I dunno why anyone would ever expect otherwise. And I find it quite hypocritical of many conservatives to demand a better VA, when it's conservatives who are typically whining about big government.

Expanding medicare to cover vets is the most logical fix, and it could probably be done at a fraction of the cost of our current VA system.

 

[WSUwarrior]

You obviously aren't in the VA system.

My best friend who cant get shoulder surgery even though he is an Iraq vet warrior is in the VA system.

The only treatment he ever got was pain pills...which he got addicted to....yep, you guessed it, he went to the Tomah facility.

 

[reinoe]

Government incompetence, government corruption, government rules and public sector unions. The solution for the VA is simple. They need to close it, sell the hospitals and give veterans medicare. It will save all kinds of money and provide better health care for the veterans. The fact that we put up with it as a society is absolutely amazing to me.

It's remarkable isn't it? The same people who complain about government corruptions, sloth, and incompetence are the same people who justify government judges not issuing marriage licenses because it's against their religion or cops being given additional leeway just because they're cops. This comment isn't directed at you; just conservatives in general.

 

[fmw]

It's remarkable isn't it? The same people who complain about government corruptions, sloth, and incompetence are the same people who justify government judges not issuing marriage licenses because it's against their religion or cops being given additional leeway just because they're cops. This comment isn't directed at you; just conservatives in general.

My comments about government refer to federal government. You are talking about state and local governments which have a less of those things mostly because they live with balanced budgets. I would view your comment as a straw man unrelated to my post. There is no reason at all for the federal governmnent to operate a chain of hospitals for veterans. There are better, cheaper and more effective solutions to veteran health care.

 

[fmw]

Absolutely.
And I find it quite hypocritical of many conservatives to demand a better VA, when it's conservatives who are typically whining about big government.

No question about that. My guess is that we don't understand the big government we are whining about.

 

[Hatuey]

Are they going to "investigate" a tweet made on a private account or... the VA's account? I'm not sure how they'd investigate it if it was a comment made on a private account.

 

[NonoBadDog]

Are they going to "investigate" a tweet made on a private account or... the VA's account? I'm not sure how they'd investigate it if it was a comment made on a private account.

I don't think it is about who's account she did it on. I think the whistle blowers will claim retaliation. If that is the case it doesn't really matter who's account it was on. I am not really up on this situation. It is damn near impossible to keep up with all the VA investigations.

 

[NonoBadDog]

It's remarkable isn't it? The same people who complain about government corruptions, sloth, and incompetence are the same people who justify government judges not issuing marriage licenses because it's against their religion or cops being given additional leeway just because they're cops. This comment isn't directed at you; just conservatives in general.

I really read your post looking for anything relevant to the conversation. Nope, nothing there. It came across and blah blahblah, cons suck, blah blah, cons suck. Was there something in there about jackalopes? No useful information at all.

 

[Hatuey]

I don't think it is about who's account she did it on. I think the whistle blowers will claim retaliation. If that is the case it doesn't really matter who's account it was on. I am not really up on this situation. It is damn near impossible to keep up with all the VA investigations.

Well, it actually does matter for the purpose of an investigation. Just think of how it would go.

Investigator: Ma'am who were you calling a piece of **** in that tweet?
Person: My dog.
Investigator: Why?
Person: He ate the newspaper.

How would they prove that excuse wrong?

 

[NonoBadDog]

Well, it actually does matter for the purpose of an investigation. Just think of how it would go.

Investigator: Ma'am who were you calling a piece of **** in that tweet?
Person: My dog.
Investigator: Why?
Person: He ate the newspaper.

How would they prove that excuse wrong?

I used to be a union rep for a Federal Civil Service union. It kind of goes like this, if a person in management had a complaint filed against them or the agency and retaliated in any way it would be subject to a Unfair Labor Practice charge and opened the individual up for civil suit. In the civil suit the person would not be covered by the agency for legal and attorney fees unless they could prove to the agency that the act was not in retaliation or it would damage the agency not to defend the person that was being sued.

That said (just for a starting point because that information wasn't an answer, just a primer for an answer):
The preponderance would probably go to the person alleging retaliation. They were able to document alleged retaliation. It was made public so it wasn't private or confidential. It was offensive. They usually give the benefit of the doubt to the accused but as material like this is produced the benefit of the doubt gets shot down real fast. That is where a jury or a judge comes in. The allegation isn't dismissed very easily. Usually the Inspector General will get involved but that becomes a separate situation. If they got in front of a federal judge and claimed that it was about their newspaper they could get hammered pretty good.

Retaliation can trigger at least three actions, civil suit, IG investigation and an Unfair Labor Practice charge (NLRB gets involved because it goes to a federal court). The ULP can be a stretch, depending on the case. In this case I think they would have a good argument for a ULP from what I have seen.

That is they usual course in a situation like this. I don't know how this is going to turn out since I don't know too much about it.

 

[SenorXm/Sirius]

The VA has been a joke and a disgrace for DECADES!! But politics is all that's important nowadays, so lets just blame the Dems and Obama. :roll:

Both sides should be put on trial and jailed for their apathy and awful treatment the Vets get. These politicians who wear their little American flag pins and talk about how great the Vets are but then ignore the mess the VA has been for decades make me sick. They can all go to hell.

 

[Hatuey]

I used to be a union rep for a Federal Civil Service union. It kind of goes like this, if a person in management had a complaint filed against them or the agency and retaliated in any way it would be subject to a Unfair Labor Practice charge and opened the individual up for civil suit. In the civil suit the person would not be covered by the agency for legal and attorney fees unless they could prove to the agency that the act was not in retaliation or it would damage the agency not to defend the person that was being sued.

That said (just for a starting point because that information wasn't an answer, just a primer for an answer):
The preponderance would probably go to the person alleging retaliation. They were able to document alleged retaliation. It was made public so it wasn't private or confidential. It was offensive. They usually give the benefit of the doubt to the accused but as material like this is produced the benefit of the doubt gets shot down real fast. That is where a jury or a judge comes in. The allegation isn't dismissed very easily. Usually the Inspector General will get involved but that becomes a separate situation. If they got in front of a federal judge and claimed that it was about their newspaper they could get hammered pretty good.

Retaliation can trigger at least three actions, civil suit, IG investigation and an Unfair Labor Practice charge (NLRB gets involved because it goes to a federal court). The ULP can be a stretch, depending on the case. In this case I think they would have a good argument for a ULP from what I have seen.

That is they usual course in a situation like this. I don't know how this is going to turn out since I don't know too much about it.

Over... a... tweet? Are we being serious? Admittedly I have little knowledge of how something like this would go. But it seems like a person would literally have to go into the mind of the person who actually sent it out to prove who it was directed at. Even then, it seems like a leap to say name calling is retaliation but I guess we'll see how this goes.

 

[NonoBadDog]

Over... a... tweet? Are we being serious? Admittedly I have little knowledge of how something like this would go. But it seems like a person would literally have to go into the mind of the person who actually sent it out to prove who it was directed at. Even then, it seems like a leap to say name calling is retaliation but I guess we'll see how this goes.

Yep, over a tweet. First it is a tweet, then it turns into a bad evaluation, then it is grows into an adverse action over something like smoking in the wrong break area, or taking a break outside the break area because there is no smoking in the official break area. It really snowballs fast. Most of the grievances I handled the supervisor was as hosed up as the employee. They both should have been fired. In this situation the Whistle Blower act might even come into play. There are numerous ways for a person in a management position to handle a situation. OPM doesn't specify "tweets" as one of those methods. They expect "management" to handle things professionally. If it were the employee that did this they would be subject to discipline for insubordination. The supervisor would hammer them in a heart beat. You would not believe the stupid situations that start in Facebook and Twitter. Most of those situations lack any sign of intelligent life.