WEST HAVEN — A union president terminated from her job as a registered nurse in the VA Connecticut health care system has filed a grievance alleging that it was an act of retaliation from management.
Sandra Salmon, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2138, has brought whistleblower reports from within the system to federal authorities, including allegations of illegal hiring practices within the VA Connecticut system that spurred a U.S. Office of Special Counsel investigation against the system’s new director. She said her job performance came under intense scrutiny in the two years after she was elected president of the union, in sharp contrast to the plaudits she received for almost two decades prior.
“In my first 20 years there have been no behavioral issues, and in the last two years I have all these behavioral issues,” Salmon said. “They hate me because I’m effective, so what they really want is to get me out of the union.”
Salmon was hired to the VA Hospital in West Haven in June 2001 and was elected as president of the union in May 2020.
Salmon was terminated on Aug. 26 on charges that she did not complete a required training and licensure program on time, that she violated the procedures around paid leave and that she violated a hospital policy around video recording in the building.
Salmon, who remains in her role as president of the union, said these violations stem from harassment she received from management as she was not allowed...
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