For VA Whistleblowers, A Culture of Fear and Retaliation – NPR
Alan Hyde is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System. He served in Operation Desert Storm, where he suffered an in-service leg injury. But it’s his time with the Central Alabama VA, he says, that has left him more rattled, frustrated and angry.
“It’s a toxic environment there,” Hyde says. “And I feel sorry for the veterans.”
Hyde is both a patient and a former employee at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System in Montgomery. He supervised employees who took vets for treatment outside the VA. Hyde was fired after six months for unspecified misconduct. He is among dozens of people who say they faced vicious retaliation when they tried to improve conditions there or hold managers accountable.
