Legislation recently introduced in the House would repeal the portions of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act that make it easier to fire VA employees.
The VA Personnel Equity Act of 2018 (H.R. 6101) was introduced in the House by Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). The bill would repeal the separate removal, demotion, and suspension processes for VA employees that were enacted under the VA Accountability and Protection Act.
Since it was implemented, the new law at the VA has been used to remove employees for performance. One of the more high profile cases involved the former director of the VA Medical Center in Washington, DC. Brian Hawkins was terminated because a number of problems at the facility, however, the VA was forced to rehire him because of a stay order issued by the MSPB. The VA ended up removing Hawkins again using the provisions of the new accountability law.
