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By Tom Sanders
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A former Veterans Affairs worker is suing the Trump administration for $2.5 million after claiming he was blacklisted from federal employment after reporting a sexual assault.
Court documents seen by Newsweek claim plaintiff Robert Perdue faced “extreme retaliation” by the federal government after reporting “institutional misconduct, civil rights violations, and federal crimes” committed during his time at the agency.
Perdue's claims echo broader concerns raised by some current and former Department of Veterans Affairs employees, who have alleged retaliation after reporting wrongdoing within the agency.
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After departing from the agency under “severe duress”, Perdue claims he was repeatedly flagged as “unsuitable” during subsequent federal job screenings, which he alleges was retaliation for his whistleblowing. He now seeks compensation from the administration for its alleged discrimination.
The Veterans Department declined to comment on the lawsuit. Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Office of Personnel Management for further comment.
The plaintiff worked as a federal employee for the VA department between 2016 and 2023, during which time he worked as a supervisor and maintained a spotless disciplinary record, the documents claim.
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But while stationed at Malcolm Randall VAMC in Gainesville, Florida, during 2022 and 2023, he “became the target of extreme retaliation after exercising his First Amendment rights to report gross mismanagement, civil rights violations, and serious federal crimes — including extortion and sexual assault — occurring within the facility.”
In an earlier document, the plaintiff claims he was subjected to a hostile work environment after reporting the allegations of misconduct, which saw colleagues disobey direct orders and verbally abuse him. When he requested to be reassigned to a different department, his supervisor “responded with a racial slur and that he should quit because he was not going to be reassigned.”
Due to “an absolute failure of the agency to secure his safety or the safety of his family,” he was later forced to resign in July 2023, the complaint reads.
After leaving the agency, Perdue sought to re-enter federal service by applying for numerous positions through the official USAJOBS portal, including a Housekeeping Aide and a Nursing Assistant.
Yet “despite possessing explicit veterans’ preference rights, a valid award letter, and an official clearance showing he was not barred from federal employment,” Plaintiff was systematically labeled ‘unsuitable’ by administrative reviewers, resulting in the continuous rescission of valid job referrals.”
This practice stripped Perdue of his veterans preference benefits and exhausted his resources, leaving him economically vulnerable, the plaintiff claims. Such a practice demonstrated a “systemic pattern of employment blacklisting, gross union non-representation, and unlawful administrative rules that stripped Plaintiff of his livelihood," the lawsuit claims.
Perdue seeks $2,500,000 in compensation for his alleged treatment by the defendants, citing lost income, reliance on disability and Social Security payments, and an inability to pay court fees. The suit continues.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon, Gray R. Thomas
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