I'm a former employee of environmental management services and, in unison with many of my peers from the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Health Administration, have either suffered first-hand or are closely connected to someone exposed to various forms of inappropriate behavior. This includes discrimination based on sex, race, or disability status; verbal harassment; whistleblower retaliation; intimidation tactics used by superiors; and wrongful termination.

Sadly, such chronic issues persist within our establishment as well as throughout the entire VA network, with much-disregarded severity at the Greater Los Angeles VA branch. Herein lies the evidence that several officials overseeing EMS operations engage in fraudulent activities. These include misappropriation of government funds for personal gain. Furthermore, they employ derogatory language when addressing their LGBTQIA employees and actively discriminate against those with hearing impairments.

Upon becoming a whistleblower and publicly voicing objections about these unethical deeds, it became apparent that strategies were being devised within EMS management to dismiss me. It's alarming how widely this issue is acknowledged among senior leadership roles, including facility directorship, yet silence prevails, perpetuating the retaliative incidents unabatedly.

As defenseless employees seeking justice amid adverse circumstances, we frequently experience challenges. Sympathizers of the managers who instigate and participate in the harassment towards their subordinates are planted in every part of the complaint process channels. This often results in even blatantly outrageous complaints such as EMS managers using the "F Word" when referring to their LGBTQAI staff, discriminating against the Deaf by blocking opportunities to be treated equally, sexual harassment, fraud against the government and even harassing employees at their private residences to be ignored, or predetermined investigation results that determine no wrongdoing was found.

The burden of reprisal I am presently undergoing profoundly affects my well-being and health. Alongside several colleagues, we fear the implications of initiating complaints against this unfair system - a decision that could culminate in the dismissal from our jobs. Such insecurity leaves us grasping at straws for stability. We are forced to utilize the complaint protocol before any investigatory body can intervene. Yet, we find ourselves hopeless when confronted with a flawed process on which we are instructed to depend. This compromised avenue intensifies employee hesitation towards reporting misconduct and disheartens those experiencing abuse within an environment already saturated with ineffective workplace harassment training programs.

Now, Eugene Humphries, Chief of EMS, has taken action to have me terminated as a means to silence me and making an example of me to keep you silent. Help the cause by signing and forwarding this petition today! More to come....