Fast Facts

Federal employees who are whistleblowers can help fight fraud, waste, and abuse, so laws protect them from retaliation, such as demotion and firing.

We're looking into whistleblower retaliation cases at the Department of Veterans Affairs. This report covers our observations on cases reported to the federal Office of Special Counsel. From FY 2018-22:

• 69% of cases involving VA employees included claims of whistleblower retaliation
• The percentage of cases that closed in the whistleblower's favor increased
• Less than 1% of these cases were closed with a settlement agreement

Highlights

What GAO Found

Most Office of Special Counsel (OSC) investigations of complaints from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees included allegations of whistleblower retaliation. These cases took longer to close than VA cases overall and have increasingly closed with an outcome that benefits the complainant. Specifically, from fiscal years 2018 through 2022, 69 percent of cases involving VA employees included allegations of whistleblower retaliation, according to GAO's analysis of OSC's data. These cases took OSC a median of 94 days to close, compared to 83 days across all cases. Additionally, whistleblower retaliation cases that closed with a favorable action—an outcome that benefitted the complainant—took longer (a median of 391 days) when compared to OSC's cases overall. From fiscal year 2018 through fiscal year 2022, the percentage of cases with a favorable action increased...

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