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VETERAN SAYS DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS COST HIM HIS
VA JOB -- His supervisor called him to her
office, told
him he was taking too much time off, and gave
him the choice of resigning or being fired.
Norman Perciful
Story here...
http://www.kentucky.com/
211/story/61649.html
Story below:
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Doctor appointments cost him VA job, vet says
By Jim Warren
JWARREN@HERALD-LEADER.COM
An Iraq-Afghanistan veteran says he was forced out of his job at a
Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center earlier this year for taking
too much time off to see VA doctors for treatment of medical problems.
Norman Perciful, 41, said he started working as a purchasing agent in
the prosthetics department at the VA center on Cooper Drive last
December, while continuing to see VA physicians for neck, back and other
injuries from his tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Perciful, of Berea, said the medical appointments were scheduled during
his work hours, which meant that he had to take leave from his VA job
for each appointment. His leave requests always were approved, he said.
But Perciful said that abruptly changed Feb. 20, when his supervisor
called him to her office, told him he was taking too much time off, and
gave him the choice of resigning or being fired. Perciful, who said he
was "floored" by the demand, ultimately chose to resign rather than have
a dismissal on his record.
Perciful acknowledged that he essentially had used up all his accrued
leave, but contended that the situation could have been handled
differently.
"I told her (the supervisor) that I didn't think it was fair," he said.
"If I'd been taking time off to go to Gatlinburg or go to ball games or
something, I could understand. But I'm a veteran, I was working for the
VA, I was keeping VA medical appointments. I felt like I was getting
messed over by the people who were supposed to be taking care of me."
Perciful has filed a discrimination complaint with the VA's Office of
Resolution Management, hoping to get monetary compensation for his job
loss, but it could take months to resolve the case.
VA officials declined to make detailed comments, citing medical and
personnel privacy regulations.
Dan Clare, a spokesman at the Disabled American Veterans national
headquarters in Cold Spring, Ky., said he had never heard of a case
quite like the one Perciful described. But he said disabled veterans
often struggle to find and keep jobs after leaving the service.
"A lot of people come back from today's modern conflicts dealing with
the need for medical care, and it can be very challenging for them to
have a civilian job," Clare said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about one in five
veterans discharged between 2002 and 2005 had service-connected
disabilities. About 58 percent of them had disability ratings of 40
percent or higher. Perciful is rated 70 percent disabled. Such ratings
-- in Perciful's case set by the VA -- are a measure of how much
physical impairment an individual has sustained.
Perciful served in the Army from the 1980s to 1997. Wanting to serve
again after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he joined the Army
Reserve and volunteered for overseas duty. He drove trucks in
Afghanistan in 2002.
Perciful served in Iraq with the Army Reserve's 125th Transportation
Co., based out of Lexington, in 2004. He worked as a supply sergeant,
but also drove trucks in convoys traveling Iraq's dangerous roads.
In October 2004, Perciful suffered a seizure in 100-degree heat and fell
from a parked truck, injuring his back and neck. He was evacuated to the
United States for treatment, spent months in a medical holdover unit at
Fort Bragg, N.C., and ultimately received a medical discharge in August
2005. Back home, Perciful continued to receive treatment through the VA
in Lexington for neurological, orthopedic and other service-related
problems.
Early last December he landed a job in the prosthetics department at the
VA center on Cooper Drive. He says his new employers knew of his medical
problems and that he would be taking time off for treatment. But he said
they indicated that wouldn't be a problem as long as he kept up his
work.
Some of Perciful's medical appointments were in the VA building on
Cooper Drive where he worked, others were at the VA hospital on Leestown
Road. Some appointments were brief, but he said others could run well
over an hour. According to Perciful, appointments were scheduled
weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. -- the hours that VA clinics
operated, but also the hours he worked. As a result, he had to request
sick leave or annual leave to keep appointments.
Perciful estimates he had more than a dozen medical appointments during
the two months he worked for the VA, but he contends that he had no
choice.
"I said, 'I'm sorry, but I have to keep these appointments,'" Perciful
said. "If they schedule appointments for you, and you miss them
regularly, they can take you out of the system."
He said he took off a few times to take care of personal business. He
also missed one day for an illness. He accrued four hours of sick leave
and six hours of annual leave every two weeks. That would have totaled
about 40 hours during the time he was with the VA. Perciful said he
essentially had used up all the leave as of Feb. 20, but would have
earned more if he had kept working.
According to Perciful, his supervisor sent him a note in January
questioning the amount of time he was missing. At about the same time,
he said, he was asked for a statement outlining his physical ability to
lift heavy objects or drive vehicles.
The doctor advised on Jan. 19 that Perciful should not lift weights
greater than 10 pounds and should avoid driving. Records provided by
Perciful also show that his supervisor contacted the doctor on Jan. 22,
asking about Perciful's "capability to stand, bend, carry items ... Some
of our equipment must be brought from the warehouse ... Need a statement
from you."
Perciful said he was surprised by the requests because his job
description made no mention of requirements for lifting or driving. He
said things came to a head on Feb. 20, when his supervisor asked him to
resign or be fired.
"I was afraid I couldn't get unemployment if I was fired, so I resigned.
I didn't think I had any other recourse," Perciful said.
He provided a copy of the statement he signed Feb. 20: "I am resigning
due to medical problems which are service connected. I have exhausted
all sick/annual leave accrued for medical appointments for the most part
and want to avoid termination for excessive leave usage."
Asked about the case, Lexington VA spokeswoman Desti Stimes said, "I can
assure you that we would not ask or encourage an employee to resign due
to doctors' appointments."
She said the VA could not comment further unless Perciful signed a
privacy release. But when Perciful contacted the VA's Mid South
Healthcare Network in Nashville, which controlled the office in
Lexington where he worked, he said he was told that the VA couldn't
comment regardless of a signed release.
Sandra Glover, a spokeswoman for the VA Mid South Healthcare Network,
confirmed that in a telephone interview. "Unfortunately, we cannot
release any information about his situation," Glover said. "He can tell
you whatever he would like you to know. But federal regulations prohibit
us from releasing personnel or health-related information."
Perciful maintains that he never took unapproved leave, and never used
more leave than he had earned. He contends that the case could have been
handled differently, by letting him work extra hours to compensate for
any time he missed.
"But that option was never offered," he said.
Perciful also stresses that he has no complaints about his VA medical
care, which he still receives. He continues to deal with pain in his
back, neck, shoulders and elbows, and says he must decide soon whether
to have surgery on his neck, which doctors have recommended. He's
looking for another job.
"I'm just pretty limited in what I can do," he said.
Reach Jim Warren at (859) 231-3255; or
1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3255.
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Larry Scott --
