Van Zandt union head suspended

Scherzinger failed to comply with Trump order to scale back work

The president of the union that represents 787 Van Zandt VA Medical Center employees has been suspended for 30 days without pay for defying President Donald Trump's executive order that required him to scale back union work from 100 percent to 25 percent of his work hours last summer -- before a federal judge struck down that requirement.

"It's uncouth, unprofessional and deplorable," said Andy Scherzinger of the American Federation of Government Employees local, referring to the timing of the suspension, which came while he is recovering from a stroke that occurred in late March.

The suspension actually represents the "compassion" of Van Zandt Director Sigrid Andrew, who ratcheted back the penalty from the termination recommended by Scherzinger's supervisor, while the eight-month delay in imposing the penalty reflects the careful analysis that goes into personnel decisions at Van Zandt, said hospital spokesman Shaun Shenk.

Scherzinger plans to appeal the suspension through the union, based on the judge's reversal of the executive order.

Reducing the penalty from termination to suspension reflects Andrew's taking Scherzinger's past service into consideration but imposing some punishment reflects how seriously the VA takes its responsibility to obey orders from the U.S. president, Shenk said.

Federal employees swear to abide by those orders, Shenk said.

The penalty also reflects how seriously the VA takes the need to allocate resources like Scherzinger's work hours judiciously, for the benefit of veterans, Shenk said.

When the executive order came down July 20, Scherzinger's supervisor ordered him to report to work as a supply technician, Shenk said.

Scherzinger failed to comply, so his superiors issued "written counseling," Shenk said.

On Aug. 1, they found him absent without leave, Shenk said.

The recommendation to terminate, and later, the suspension order, were based on Scherzinger's absence from the facility on Aug. 1, 2 and 3, Shenk said.

Scherzinger defied the order because he had a duty to his workers, who needed him to work 100 percent on their behalf, Scherzinger said.

He tried what he could to continue that routine without violating the executive order -- asking for vacation, then unpaid leave -- to no avail, he said.

He spent about a month and a half between the time the executive order came down and the restoration of the status quo working on union business as usual -- never simply staying home, he said.

Scherzinger's supervisor, not Scherzinger, had the authority to authorize vacation or unpaid leave, Shenk said.

Scherzinger had assumed that because nothing had happened since the summer, the VA wasn't going to penalize him for defying the executive order, he said.

That made the suspension now, while he recovers from the stroke, seem like "piling on," he said.

It also shows that union workers should beware, he said.

"If they're coming after me, the union president, they're not going to stop at anybody," he said.

Despite the conflict represented by the suspension, Van Zandt management has an "open door" policy with employees, which is part of what led to a recent recognition of the hospital as one of the most improved places to work in the VA medical system, Shenk said.

"The techniques and the employee relations here are being modeled, looked at in other VA medical centers," he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.