Veteran Affairs Regional Director under fire for Bonuses
Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 04:28:27 AM PDT
The reason he is under fire for the bonuses is the fact that he and his subordinates have settled sexual harassment lawsuits, discrimination complaints etc, with dollars from the VA. To the tune of 500,000 dollars in the past few years.
While going thru all of this, and the Regional Office is in disarray and veterans wait for years to have their claims adjudicated and get stuck on the hamster wheel, the VA management decided he was doing such a great job, they awarded him 50,000 dollars in bonuses. It must be great to be a VARO Manager in the Veterans system.
The union representing the workers at this office have called for his removal:
Carl Hawkins Jr. has been at the heart of office turbulence:
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) today challenged the Department of Veterans Affairs to remove Carl Hawkins, Jr., regional director at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in Columbia, S.C. amid allegations of sexual harassment, age discrimination, and racial discrimination. Over the last two years, the VBA regional director and his managers have been named in dozens of discrimination suits including allegations of pay disparity, retaliation and violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, resulting in civil and administrative settlements of over $500,000. However, instead of being removed from his post, Hawkins received $50,000 in bonuses over the same two-year time span. AFGE has called on the National VA to launch an investigation to uncover Hawkins' abuses of authority since taking office.
"The tragedy here is not just that the VA has not held Mr. Hawkins accountable for the $500,000 dollars he has cost the American tax-payers, but that as a result of his despicable actions, the quality of service at our facility is suffering," said Dan Brockway, president of AFGE Local 520, which represents 200 employees at the Columbia facility. "We are here because we want to serve Veterans that have so courageously served this nation. The harassment and discrimination perpetrated by Mr. Hawkins tarnishes everything that the VA is supposed to be about."
According to local union representatives, Mr. Hawkins continually ignored directives from the National Department of Veterans Affairs aimed at eliminating pay disparity among certain employees. "We have to be the only facility in the country where GS-4s hold degrees," added Ron Robinson, executive vice-president at AFGE Local 520.
This is part of the reason that veterans across this nation are complaining, the dollars to pay these complaints come from the VA Budget, so instead of awarding some disabled veterans claims, the money is going to pay for harassment complaints amongst the employees. Do they deserve to be compensated ? YES But the veterans also deserve to have their claims handled swiftly and appropriately, instead of ignoring half the evidence and denying the claim and putting the file on the hamster wheel.
The veterans and their families suffer while this goes on, many will end up losing their homes, their cars and their marriages. Great job there Mr. Hawkins, you should be proud of yourself.
Permalink | 11 comments