Contact: Dr. Jeffrey Fudin, Veterans Affairs Whistleblower
Coalition, fudinj@gmail.com,
Tel- (518-588-5651) or Sibel Edmonds, National Security Whistleblowers
Coalition, sedmonds@nswbc.org
Albuquerque
Veterans Affairs Nurse Joins with VA Whistleblower and National Security
Whistleblower Coalitions to Support Freedom of Speech and Protection of Veterans
Laura Berg has
been a registered nurse at the Albuquerque, New Mexico Veterans Affairs (VA)
Hospital for over 15 years. In her
current role as a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she has recently
observed returning veterans with a myriad of psychiatric disturbances resulting
from experiences encountered in the Middle East. Berg’s work history has been exemplary, with consistent
outstanding performance ratings.
For
Publicly expressing her views on certain political issues in September
2005 (Click
Here),
Ms. Berg was intimidated and harassed (Click
Here)
by VA administrators. The ACLU has pledged to support and currently represent
her case against the VA and associated government officials (Click Here).
Because of
intimidating treatment by her employer, she decided to join forces with the VA
Whistleblowers Coalition (VAWBC) to more globally network with colleagues
nationwide that have experienced similar retaliation from the Department of
Veterans Affairs.
According to Dr. Fudin, Chair and Founder of the VAWBC, their
group is brimming with concerned Veterans Affairs healthcare providers that
exposed medical misconduct, veteran harm and/or abuse. In every case, the Office of Special Counsel
(an agency purportedly in place to protect federal employees against
retaliation) refused to investigate, ruled in favor of the VA without a
forthright investigation, or simply ignored the case outright. Fudin reports that several concerned VA
practitioners (and some within the Department of Defense) have volunteered to
join the group, but many are reluctant to publicize their names for fear of
further retribution. Fudin said
“Although Ms. Berg’s case is not specifically about patient abuse, it is
consistent with the retribution encountered by countless VA colleagues where
First Amendment rights are clearly violated when exposing unlawful behavior by
‘protected disclosures’. It is an
environment fraught with nepotism and cronyism, fear and frustration, all of
which negatively impact on the integrity and quality of veteran patient care.”
Fudin contacted FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds (founder of
the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (www.NSWBC.org) in April 2005. By Fudin’s report, “the comparisons between
retaliation endured by Ms. Edmonds’ coalition members was so similar to that of
VA whistleblowers, one would think there was a policy manual on how to harass
federal whistleblowers. VAWBC
whistleblowers, like our NSWBC counterparts, all attempted to address
corruption from within their respective agencies before going public. All were honest employees that risked their
careers to do the right thing. Ms.
Edmonds and I agreed that we could assist targeted VA practitioners by starting
a VA Whistleblower Coalition (www.VAWBC.com)
partner group. The ultimate goal is not
personal, it’s to protect veteran patients, lobby for REAL whistleblower
protection among federal employees, and remove real fears that exist among VA
workers when faced with the choice of exposing patient abuse or ending their
government careers.”
Sibel Edmonds has been a strong advocate of Fudin’s VA
whistleblower group. In fact, several
NSWBC members are U.S. veterans. By Ms.
Edmonds’ account, "Patriotic truth-tellers across various agencies lack
protection against retaliation from the agencies they seek to reform.
Currently, our government’s policies support and reward wrongdoers who seek to
silence whistleblowers. Responsible government employees like Ms. Berg are
being chased out of jobs by those who either are engaged in wrongful behavior
or don’t want to hear about it. NSWBC welcomes Laura Berg to our community of
responsible government employees whose higher loyalty is to the Constitution
and the rule of law. We are proud to have VAWBC as our partner, and are determined
to continue our joint efforts to reach our common ultimate goal: to adopt
meaningful & enforceable protections for employees that allow them to be
secure in their jobs and encourage them to report waste, fraud, and abuse of
power."
Veterans
Affairs Whistleblowers Coalition (VAWBC), founded in April 2006, is an
independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who have come forward to
address irregular patient care within various Veterans Affairs institutions
nationwide; to inform authorities of real or potential patient harm, abuse or
death. The VAWBC is dedicated to aiding
VA whistleblowers through a variety of methods, including advocacy of
governmental and legal reform, educating the public concerning whistleblowing
activity, provision of comfort and fellowship to VA whistleblowers suffering
retaliation and other harms, and working with other public interest
organizations to affect goals defined in the VAWBC mission statement. For
more on NSWBC visit www.vawbc.com
About National Security
Whistleblowers Coalition
National Security
Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), founded in August 2004, is an independent and
nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who have come forward to address our
nation’s security weaknesses; to inform authorities of security vulnerabilities
in our intelligence agencies, at nuclear power plants and weapon facilities, in
airports, and at our nation’s borders and ports; to uncover government waste,
fraud, abuse, and in some cases criminal conduct. The NSWBC is dedicated
to aiding national security whistleblowers through a variety of methods,
including advocacy of governmental and legal reform, educating the public
concerning whistleblowing activity, provision of comfort and fellowship to
national security whistleblowers suffering retaliation and other harms, and
working with other public interest organizations to affect goals defined in the
NSWBC mission statement. For more on NSWBC visit www.nswbc.org