VA staffer used medical records to stalk and harass female vet, lawmakers demand reforms 1 hour ago This June 21, 2013, photo shows the seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington, D.C. (Charles Dharapak/AP) A group of 50 House lawmakers is demanding immediate improvements to the Department of Veterans Affairs system for investigating sexual harassment complaints after a woman was stalked and intimidated by a call center employee who used his post to look up her personal information. In a letter sent this week to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, the group led by Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark, D-Mass. said they are “deeply concerned about the sexual harassment of women veterans and employees at the department” and urged immediate implementation of legislation recently passed by Congress mandating a centralized reporting system for all such complaints.
VA staffer used medical records to stalk and harass female vet, lawmakers demand reforms
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The military was front and center this week as we tracked several stories from the front lines to the White House. The National Defense Authorization Act the bill that will fund the military in the next fiscal year passed the House and the Senate. But, it carried with it a proposal to rename 10 military bases dotted across the Southern United States including the famous Forts Bragg, Benning, and Hood. President Trump, who has threatened to veto the bill if it included such language, has not changed his position; the bill remains unsigned.
The possibility of a name change comes at a hard time for Fort Hood which has been beleaguered by a raft of soldier deaths. Though the Army has handed down punishments for officers at the base, there remains confusion about who is really to blame.
After controversial event on sexual assault support, VA postpones future telephone town halls December 21, 2020 A screenshot from the Department of Veterans Affairs web site advertises the Veterans Benefits Administration s telephone town hall series. The Dec. 22 event was postponed by officials in recent days following controversy surrounding the event focused on military sexual trauma.
Veterans Affairs officials have agreed to delay upcoming telephone town halls with veterans following criticism from sexual assault victims and their advocates that one recent event traumatized listeners because of the department’s callous approach to the issue. The event, held last Thursday, involved cold calls to thousands of veterans inviting them into a live group discussion about military sexual assault and VA benefits. It was part of a series of outreach efforts by the Veterans Benefits Administration in recent months.
‘I hung up and vomited’ Veteran sexual assault survivors say VA’s outreach retraumatized them December 18, 2020 The seal affixed to the front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington, D.C. is shown in June 2013. (Charles Dharapak/AP) An attempt by Veterans Affairs officials this week to improve their outreach to military sexual misconduct victims left several of those victims retraumatized due to what they called an insensitive approach to the issue. The incident a town hall meeting via telephone in which women were cold-called and transferred into a conversation about sexual abuse with little warning comes as the VA department’s leadership is embroiled in controversy over their own handling on a sexual assault claim at a VA medical center last year.
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