Classy.
An employee of the scandal-plagued Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health System has been placed on leave for wearing a Halloween costume to work that appeared to mock a disabled Marine veteran who faced retaliation for reporting mishandling of suicidal vets.
A supervisor was also placed on administrative leave and outside investigators have been brought in, Phoenix VA spokeswoman Jean Schaefer said in an interview with Stars and Stripes.
“We are appalled by it,” she said.The incident happened just before Halloween at the office where addiction specialist and whistleblower Brandon Coleman works. Coleman was earlier suspended from his job after reporting that suicidal patients were being neglected and left to walk out of the hospital without proper care. He has since filed for federal whistleblower protection.
According to Coleman and Jared Kinnaman, a co-worker who witnessed the costume, social worker Jeremy Pottle showed up to work wearing a blond wig with a ponytail, fake light-colored beard, fake tattoos and a pillow under his shirt to give the appearance of a paunch.
“I’ve never been more angered or saddened at the same time, in everything I’ve been through for the last year,” said Coleman, who also sent a complaint to VA Secretary Bob McDonald. “It just shows that retaliation is alive and well in Phoenix.”