Federal Reports

A Lead Service Attendant based at New York Penn Station violated company policies by engaging in outside employment at two temporary employment agencies and an assisted living facility in Delaware while on medical leave and receiving Railroad Retirement Board benefits. The employee resigned prior to her disciplinary hearing and is ineligible for rehire.

An Amtrak engineer based in Miami, Florida, signed a waiver of administrative hearing on October 9, 2023, following a year-long investigation into time and attendance abuses by a Miami-based yard crew. By signing the waiver, the employee waived his rights to an administrative hearing and accepted responsibility for the administrative charges against him and understood that future misconduct may result in termination.Our investigation found that yard crew employees violated company policies by routinely leaving work several hours before the end of their shifts while continuing to falsely claim regular or overtime pay for time they did not work. From June 2, 2022, to April 10, 2023, 10 additional employees were disciplined as a result of our investigation. Five of these employees signed a waiver to an administrative hearing, accepting responsibility of the administrative charges against them, and the other five either resigned while under investigation or were terminated from employment for their roles in the scheme.Finally, we provided the company with observations for their consideration that we learned during our investigation.

An Amtrak Coach Cleaner based in Miami, Florida, was terminated from employment on October 5, 2023, following her administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the employee violated company policies by engaging in outside employment while on a medical leave of absence.

Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Federal Labor Relations Authority for Fiscal Year 2024

Poor contractor performance and technology development issues threaten to push NASA’s On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 project (OSAM-1) beyond its $2.05 billion budget and projected December 2026 launch date.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (facility) in Houston, Texas, to evaluate Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) and facility leaders’ response to critical surgical events from 2018 through 2021 and assess actions to prevent reoccurrence.The facility reported eight critical surgical events during this time frame—five wrong-site surgeries and three instances of retained surgical items. The OIG found that facility leaders took progressive actions including peer reviews, counseling, a focused professional practice evaluation (FPPE) for cause, and termination to address a provider responsible for three wrong-site surgeries. However, the OIG identified deficiencies with the implementation and quality of the FPPE for cause, and in reporting the provider to state licensing boards (SLBs) and the national practitioner data bank (NPDB).Facility leaders ensured a root cause analysis (RCA) was generated for each critical surgical event and that Surgery Service leaders implemented additional actions to improve processes. However, the OIG identified deficiencies with some RCAs related to timeliness and subsequent action plans. The OIG determined that three critical surgical events may have been prevented in the absence of the RCA deficiencies. Facility leaders and staff could not explain the reasons for the deficiencies in the RCAs.The OIG determined VISN leaders provided oversight and consultation to facility leaders regarding critical surgical events. VISN leaders provided consultation and recommendations to facility leaders for managing the provider, and conducted annual reviews of the facility’s RCA process, identified deficiencies, and alerted facility leaders to areas in need of improvement.The OIG made three recommendations to the Facility Director related to conducting and documenting FPPEs for cause, reporting providers to SLBs and the NPDB, and completing RCAs and subsequent action plans.