DOJ Unable to Timely Issue Certain EEO Decisions. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 1213(g)(2), the Special Counsel transmitted to the Attorney General a whistleblower disclosure that employees at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, Complaint Adjudication Office (CAO), Washington D.C., engaged in actions that may constitute a violation of law, rule, or regulation and gross mismanagement. The whistleblower alleged that the CAO failed to timely issue Final Agency Decisions (FAD) requested by Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complainants within 60 days, as required by 29 C.F.R. § 1614.110(b).
Officials in the Civil Rights Division conducted the review. The report found that FADs requested by DOJ EEO complainants pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 1614.110(b) were issued, on average, in 547.6 days in 2023 and 682.5 days in 2024 (through September 14, 2024). The report attributed these delays to the significant increase in EEO complaints received by CAO, nearly doubling from 2013 to 2023. The report noted that DOJ has taken a number of steps in recent years to improve its ability to timely issue FADs, including increasing the number of attorneys in the CAO by 175 percent from 2020 to 2024, offering one-year attorney details in the CAO to assist with backlog, providing more robust training and mentoring for CAO attorneys, developing guidance for CAO attorneys on common legal issues, implementing a case tracking system, streamlining processes to “fast-track” relatively simple cases, and utilizing productivity standards for CAO attorneys. In addition, the report indicated that DOJ is planning to modify the acknowledgement letter sent to EEO complainants to alert them of anticipated delays in issuing FADs requested pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 1614.110(b).
Based on the agency’s review and proposed corrective action, OSC is closing this matter.
OSC File No. DI-24-000819
National Strategy Needed for Resolving Backlog of Refunds Owed to Veterans. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 1213(g)(2), the Special Counsel transmitted to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs a whistleblower disclosure that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of Finance, Revenue Operations, Washington, D.C., engaged in actions that may constitute a violation of law, rule, or regulation and gross mismanagement. The whistleblower alleged that all seven regional VA Consolidated Patient Account Centers (CPACs) are failing to address a backlog of potential refunds owed to veterans nationwide for canceled copayment charges, in violation of 38 C.F.R. § 17.47(e)(1).
The report confirmed that for at least five years, CPACs have not been able to stay up to date with processing refunds for veterans whose copayments were cancelled by the VA. The agency's strategy is to stay current with more recent refund requests and work the backlog as time allows. Constraints on staffing have limited the regional CPACs' ability to address their backlog. Further, the review found that there was no standardized process for tracking the backlog as CPACs individually tracked progress. To address this issue, the report noted that the agency recently rolled out the VA Product Accountability and Report System that will include backlog tracking capabilities. As of December 31, 2023, the backlog included more than 5.6 million charges that were paid by veterans, cancelled by the VA, but have not been reviewed by CPACs for processing potential refunds. The report recommended that the Office of Finance and Revenue Operations develop a national strategy for resolving the backlog of refunds owed to veterans.
Because the report confirmed critical aspects of the whistleblower's allegations of agency wrongdoing and did not include all statutorily required information, the Special Counsel will refer this matter to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for a formal investigation pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 1213(c).