Seattle Veterans Affairs staffer alleges whistleblower retaliation

Within two weeks of the publication of a second article about the building closure, Perez proposed a second suspension, this time for 14 days. The charges stemmed from a March fact-finding report — requested by the deputy director of patient care services — which concluded Galuszka intimidated and bullied a vendor from a medical supply company. 

The bullying complaint centered around a disagreement on how the logistics department handled an out-of-stock item. After the logistics staff made a purchase, a sales representative from a different company, one that often supplied that item, emailed a nurse manager at the VA. She warned that repurposed equipment might have been purchased, which is not allowed in the hospital system, according to a VA investigation. 

The report stated Galuszka and this sales representative later met in his office. That sales representative told the investigator she felt bullied during that meeting and in subsequent interactions with Galuszka. 

Recounting the meeting, Galuszka said he told the sales representative that she needed to come to him with concerns, and that she should not discuss the buying of equipment with nurses. 

He said he was just following VA purchasing policies by requiring the sales representative to communicate purchases only through the logistics department. He added that his staffers understood the rules, and purchased only new equipment. 

The VA report concluded Galuszka’s behavior toward the sales representative and a nurse manager was “uncomfortable and intimidating.”

Galuszka was also charged with making an unauthorized purchase of office equipment in December 2023. He said other divisions had made similar purchases in the past. 

An outside medical director also reviewed and upheld the second suspension. Galuszka, who has served both suspensions, is appealing them under the VA grievance procedure. 

Prior to 2023, Galuszka received top marks for his job performance, according to three years of performance evaluations. In 2020, he received a Congressional Fellowship for his work recruiting transitioning Department of Defense medical personnel into open VA positions. Then, after Perez became his boss, he received lower marks on the two following performance reviews.

The suspensions cost him three weeks worth of pay, a total loss of around $7,000, according to Galuszka. Besides the financial impact, Galuszka said the stress he has experienced over this past year at work has impacted his health and family life.

“Unfortunately, this becomes a big focus of discussion in the house,” Galuszka said. “My kids have noticed that. When we go on vacations, they say, ‘You can’t talk about work.’”

Galuszka noted the added stress can trigger severe headaches for which he used to sometimes take sick leave —  a few days a week, for a few hours at a time — never using more than what he had banked. That stopped in September, after Perez decided this was an inappropriate use of leave, according to Galuszka’s personnel file. Now Galuszka needs a doctor’s note to take any sick leave, which he feels is another act of retaliation.

“It is a ludicrous system,” Galuszka said. “I can’t take my own earned sick leave.”

Galuszka’s deputy, Hopkins, also spoke with reporters for the two articles published about the conditions of Building 18. Hopkins has not been suspended or faced disciplinary action at work, but said he witnessed acts from VA leadership that feel like punishment. He said Perez told his staff to “stop being cynical” when they raised concern that the move from Building 18 would be delayed. He said he and his staff were crowded into smaller working environments when they attempted to find safer office space.

“It’s stressful coming to work like that when you can’t be yourself and do your job because you’re worried about what’s coming around the corner,” Hopkins said. 

A 2018 report by the federal Government Accountability Office found that VA staffers who report “wrongdoing are more likely to receive disciplinary action and leave the agency than their peers.” It also concluded that by allowing the program offices or facilities where a whistleblower reported misconduct to perform the investigation can lead to potential conflicts of interest.

After the Cascade PBS/NWPB investigation was published, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Adam Smith called on VA administrators to explain what delayed vacating of the building. In the July 2024 letter, Murray and Smith asked the VA to provide a current timeline for the building and to commit to biannual briefings on the hospital campus with staffers from each office.