(Tribune News Service) — Several VA Loma Linda Healthcare System whistleblowers have come forward with new allegations of retaliation, harassment and hostile working conditions amid a widening investigation by the House Veterans Affairs Committee, according to a lawmaker.

On Friday, committee member U.S. Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia, met behind closed doors with VA Loma Linda’s interim director Bryan Arnette, and other officials to discuss the whistleblower complaints and map out needed changes.

“Sometimes in federal government … we can create a workplace environment that is tolerant of people that don’t follow the rules,” Obernolte said during a press briefing following the meetings without offering specific details about what was discussed. “We want to make sure that doesn’t occur.”

Separately, staff members from the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations met with whistleblowers at an undisclosed location to review their complaints that suggest systematic failures by the federal government to address problems at VA Loma Linda.

Obernolte declined to disclose the specific nature of the confidential whistleblower allegations.

Additionally, the second-term House member said he is unsure if the allegations are related to VA Loma Linda Director Karandeep Sraon’s transfer in March to the VA’s Desert Pacific Healthcare Network in Long Beach.

VA Loma Linda said in a statement Friday that team members “were incredibly proud” to show Obernolte how it takes care of veterans and employees.

The facility is “actively taking steps to invest in VA employees” and welcomes the opportunity to discuss workplace concerns.

“Our aim is always to ensure a safe, harassment-free environment in a culture where all employees and guests are treated with dignity and respect,” the statement said.

Visit follows federal investigation

Obernolte’s visit follows a Southern California News Group report in May that revealed a 2021 federal investigation found that a VA Loma Linda manager frequently used racial slurs, required workers to buy him food and drive him to and from work, and then punished those who refused his demands with bad assignments.

However, instead of being terminated for creating a hostile work environment, the manager — identified by multiple sources as grounds department supervisor Martin Robles — was inexplicably promoted.

“There were numerous instances where inappropriate language and racial slurs were used which appears to be a common practice,” a Veterans Administration investigative board said in a heavily redacted 61-page report obtained by the Southern California News Group. “Inappropriate and discriminatory hiring practices were found, which have contributed to the lack of trust, poor morale, and fractured culture.”

The Administrative Investigation Board recommended Robles be removed from employment because of “overwhelming evidence to support that the supervisor was intimidating, exhibited bullying behavior, threatening behavior, and contributed to a hostile work environment,” said a source familiar with the probe.

The AIB investigation, which began on Dec. 9, 2020, and concluded the week of Jan. 11, 2021, included 57 hours of testimony from 36 witnesses and 4,000 pages of exhibits.

Robles also was the focus of two other VA Loma Linda investigations in 2020 and 2022 that substantiated allegations he fostered a hostile work environment. Details of those two investigations were not immediately available.

About a month after the 2021 probe wrapped up, Robles was given increased management responsibilities at VA Loma Linda. His salary in 2022 was $75,000.

Past troubles

The controversy involving Robles is the latest in a string of troubling incidents involving VA Loma Linda employees.

The VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, which includes the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center and several clinics, made headlines in 2019 when it was discovered that a manager had been convicted of murder.

Then, in 2021, a federal judge reprimanded Chief of Staff Dr. Franklin Sechriest for failing to obtain treatment for his mentally ill son, allowing him to amass a small arsenal before torching a Texas synagogue.

The AIB also determined VA Loma Linda’s maintenance and operations chief, David J. Grzechowiak, ignored evidence of Robles’ misconduct and failed to hold him accountable.

“The board found there has been a long-standing mismanagement and acceptance of behaviors which have continued to perpetuate over time and which have built a culture within that could be described as dysfunctional, toxic, and demoralizing,” the AIB report says.

Appropriate administrative actions have been taken as a result of the AIB investigation, VA Loma Linda’s associate director of resources, Maria T. Nguyen, said in a June 14, 2021, memo to Facilities Management Services employees.

The Southern California News Group obtained more than a dozen emails and complaints filed with the VA over five years, all detailing Robles’ troubling interactions with employees.

Ryan Joseph Sperry, a former Marine and VA Loma Linda irrigation technician from Moreno Valley who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependency, documented many of Robles’ indiscretions.

Sperry was 43 when he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Aug. 9, 2022.

Committee investigating suicide

The House Veterans Affairs Committee is investigating whether Sperry’s’ suicide is employment-related and has demanded that the VA explain why Robles has been allowed to keep his job.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis Richard McDonough sent Obernolte a letter Friday offering an explanation.

“In the case of the Loma Linda supervisor, the AIB report recommended the employee’s removal,” McDonough said in the letter. “After careful consideration of all the available information as well as consultation with the Office of General Counsel, however, management decided that a different penalty was more appropriate. The employee received an administrative action.”

Robles continues to be monitored by VA Loma Linda management, who purportedly have not received any new allegations of retaliation or hostile work environment.

Under the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act signed into law in 2017, the VA was given expanded authority to fire employees at all levels, shorten the removal process, and ensure terminated workers are not kept on the agency’s payroll while appealing that decision

It also made it easier for the VA to remove poor-performing senior executives and replace them with qualified candidates. The law also established the VA’s Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection.

However, as of April 3, the VA has stopped using the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, following an Office of Inspector General report that says the law has “floundered.”

Meanwhile, Obernolte said that while McDonough’s letter answered some questions, the VA secretary did not respond as to whether he would want to be personally supervised by a manager who has behaved so poorly.

“That illustrates the heart of the argument that we are making,” he said. “We do not want to create a work environment that drives away the quality people that we need to care for our veterans.”

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