Head of the St. Paul Veterans Benefits office, Kimberly Graves, was demoted after allegations that she participated in a scandal involving the use of the VA hiring system to manipulate a lower-ranking job with better pay for herself and one other employee.
Government officials accused Graves and Diana Rubens, from the Philadelphia office, of forcing lower-ranking managers to take job transfers in other locations and then took the vacated positions themselves. They pocketed thousands of dollars in moving expenses and maintained their higher salary despite a reduction in job responsibilities.
Rubens Pocketed $275K
Records indicate that Rubens pocketed some $275,000 in moving expenses to transfer from Washington D.C. to Philadelphia (these figures included a loss from the sale of her home). Graves pocketed close to $130,000.
The VA announced the demotion November 20, saying: “Today the Department took final action to demote two Veterans Benefits Administration Senior Executives to General Schedule positions.
Diana Rubens, Director of the VBA’s Philadelphia Regional Office and Kimberly Graves, Director at the St. Paul Regional Office have been assigned to assistant director positions at other VBA regional offices. These actions return the employees immediately to general schedule positions within the VBA.”
The press release continued by noting that the actions followed protocol according to Veterans’ Access Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, which allows reassignment based on performance of employee conduct.
Lawmakers Speaking Out
Some lawmakers are speaking out against the transfers claiming that this action is not enough to make up for the actions of the two federal employees. The Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman, Jeff Miller, a Republican from Florida expressed his disappointment with the decision.
“VA aggressively pursues the recoupment of overpayment of benefits made to veterans… even when the overpayments are due to the VA’s own errors. I am sure you appreciate the lunacy of a policy that is stricter on veteran beneficiaries of earned benefits as compared to corrupt government employees… The right way to deal with corrupt employees is to fire them. The VA way to deal with corrupt employees is to protect and coddle them,” Miller told reporters.
To add to the irony, Graves and Rubens may be eligible to receive more money to fund their new locations. Rubens and Graves may receive more money because the transfers include an involuntary cross-country move. This means they may apply for several department relocation reimbursements. While they are not likely to benefit from the home sale program (which helps cover losses of a home sale due to a transfer) because the program has been halted pending further investigation, taxpayers could foot the rest of their moving expenses.
Miller responded to this news with frustration. “It seems VA’s taxpayer abuse is never ending. Now we hear that VA leaders, who refuse to fire Rubens and Graves despite their proven corruption, are planning to reward them with a publicly funded move,” Miller said.
The change in position will cost the two women thousands of in the loss of federal benefits and salary. Both women may appeal their demotions, if they file an appeal by the end of the week.
