VA sexual harassment accuser frustrated by flawed investigation
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — Navy Reservist Jennifer Jones appreciated the opportunity to volunteer for services to honor Tampa Bay-area veterans, but her paid position at Bay Pines National Cemetery evoked other emotions.
“All I wanted was to come to work, serve my veterans and their families and go home,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to go through all of this.”
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She claims “all of this” included sexual harassment from her former supervisor Doug Maddox. The complaint she filed with the VA’s National Cemetery Administration (NCA) alleged he also made inappropriate comments to widows at funerals.
A second complaint about Maddox was filed by another employee. The VA will not comment on either complaints.
Jones wanted an outside agency to investigate her complaint to avoid a conflict of interest, but she claims the investigators were from the cemetery office where she and Mattox worked.
“They knew him,” Jones said. “They didn’t know me.”
Jones said she does not believe the investigation was handled fairly.
“No, not at all,” Jones said.
She said the paperwork she received back from investigators was often filled with typos and mistakes and she added that there was no one to guide her through the process.
Adding to the frustration, on the morning her case was scheduled for mediation, the VA cancelled it because the mediator was not notified.
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Now her case remains inactive.
“The person that has the grievance usually gets the shorter end of the stick. It’s harder for us,” Jones said. “I felt I was being pushed out the door through this process. You know, she’ll quit eventually.”
Jones resigned in July.
Maddox, who was transferred to Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell a short time before Jones resigned, turned down an interview request from 8 On Your Side and referred us to the NCA.
NCA spokesman Eric Schnaible has so far refused to answer if the complaints about Maddox prompted his change of assignment because of the complaints against him.
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“While VA cannot comment on personnel actions or investigations,” Schnaible said. “We can confirm Doug Maddox is an assistant director at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, having served previously at Bay Pines National Cemetery in St. Petersburg.”
Jones said she will continue to volunteer at veterans’ funeral services, but she hopes changes will be made in how the VA investigates sexual harassment.
“There are people who just don’t take it seriously,” Jones said. “I wanted accountability. There was no accountability.”
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