Board of Veterans Appeals (Attorney Advisor)

[Anonymous]

I am just going to end this ridiculous conversation for everyone. Everyone STFU. We are not even answering the original question that was post that started this whining session about how the Board is bad.

MOVE THE F ON.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are not solely Board issues. They are general American workplace issues. If you have only ever worked at the Board, that's all you have to go by. But having worked in other state agencies, these events occur there also. Do not believe the Board is the only place problems occur. So, for all the complaints - which are justifiable understandable - you have to adjust, otherwise you should just quit and never work again, or just run your own law business.

yes there are other bad places out there. But, I've been in the workforce professionally for 27 years and the Board is by far the most dysfunctional poorly managed place I've been.

I had the same role in three other state agencies, and they were A LOT worse than the Board.

If you want to know how bad a government agency can be, work at the local or county level. The Board is leaps and bounds above them.

The Board is leaps and bounds above them FOR YOU. You seem not to understand that other people have a different experience than you. Try to understand people other than yourself.

And you don't seem to understand you don't have it as bad as you think. Try to understand other people yourself.

I never said I had it bad. You are the one that you don't understand any of the problems people described. Now you claim that you are understanding Which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are not solely Board issues. They are general American workplace issues. If you have only ever worked at the Board, that's all you have to go by. But having worked in other state agencies, these events occur there also. Do not believe the Board is the only place problems occur. So, for all the complaints - which are justifiable understandable - you have to adjust, otherwise you should just quit and never work again, or just run your own law business.

yes there are other bad places out there. But, I've been in the workforce professionally for 27 years and the Board is by far the most dysfunctional poorly managed place I've been.

I had the same role in three other state agencies, and they were A LOT worse than the Board.

If you want to know how bad a government agency can be, work at the local or county level. The Board is leaps and bounds above them.

The Board is leaps and bounds above them FOR YOU. You seem not to understand that other people have a different experience than you. Try to understand people other than yourself.

And you don't seem to understand you don't have it as bad as you think. Try to understand other people yourself.

I never said I had it bad. You are the one that you don't understand any of the problems people described. Now you claim that you are understanding Which is it?

WTF are you talking about? I am the person who first responded, and if you could read, I used "personally" in my responses. No wonder you don't like the Board. You're an idiot.

[Anonymous]

These were your words:

I am confused. Do you have a point? You don't like the Board because of past issues? That it?

Now you claim to be understanding. When did you stop being confused?

From what you have expressed, only your experience matters. You discount the problems of others because you have not experienced those things.

When you pass a homeless person, do you tell them it's a great day because you have a nice place to live and plenty to eat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These were your words:

I am confused. Do you have a point? You don't like the Board because of past issues? That it?

Now you claim to be understanding. When did you stop being confused?

From what you have expressed, only your experience matters. You discount the problems of others because you have not experienced those things.

When you pass a homeless person, do you tell them it's a great day because you have a nice place to live and plenty to eat?

You quoted only ONE of my comments. And you have taken it OUT OF CONTEXT.

Let me ease your mind and to clarify: My experience is my experience. I acknowledge the Board management is not ideal. But it is better than what I have experienced in other positions. Those who complain that they don't like it are using their experiences. I have no issue with that. But for ALL OF US, we can complain all we want, certain things are CULTURAL everywhere. Not getting along with a supervisor, dealing with idiots and lazy colleagues, and complaining about quotas. That is an AMERICAN workplace issue not limited to the Board. Things NO ONE but management can change. The original poster asked if this forum influence anyone, and I said, for me, it was the best decision I have made career-wise to join the Board. I don't speak for others. I know some were fired, but that does occur everywhere, justified or unjustified. It is up to the individual to decide if the move to the Board is for them.

Now, I will ask YOU again, what is your point of all YOUR negativity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Dept of Labor Benefits Review Board positions posted on Usajobs could be an exit for some looking to leave

Thanks for posting, but that position requires one year of specialized experience:

Specialized experience for this position is described as having a working knowledge of the Black Lung Benefits Act; the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act and its extensions; or similar litigation experience through appellate or federal law, such as workers' compensation experience.

The vast majority of BVA attorneys don’t have that specialized experience.

Vast majority of all attorneys in general don't have that experience.

Lol, you're so defensive. Yes, the vast majority of attorneys don't have that experience, but this is a BVA thread, and the poster announced the vacancy for the benefit of BVA attorneys.

Maybe I misread what the previous poster said. I think they meant that, because most attorneys in general do not have the specific experience sought by the BRB, then one should consider applying regardless of whether they have the background.

Hmmm, maybe some people who would like to leave BVA are there because they don’t know how the application game is played? Most vacancy announcements are written with the agency’s wish list and no one meets the criteria (ever heard of a purple squirrel?). A BVA attorney could answer the questionnaire and make sure their resume shows their experience with similar issues. Black lung? No, but agent orange exposure? Disability from inhaling jet fumes on an aircraft carrier? Decision writing is decision writing - sell those skills and demonstrate your ability to quickly learn other subject matter/think critically/problem solve

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This thread has been ongoing for awhile now. I wonder if anyone has actually chosen not to join the Board because of this thread? Have people actually been encouraged by the thread? Or is it just current employees discussing workplace grievances at this point?

Good question. Personally, I take everything said here with high skepticism. Personally, I joined the Board despite the negative comments, and it was the best career decision I ever made. For obvious reasons (i.e., identification), I won't reveal too much info about myself. I will say I had substantial litigation experience before joining the Board. I hated litigation. I am NOT a people person. This position has allowed me to excel at what I do best, write. I considered being put with a bad VLJ, but I knew I write well and would have to adapt. So, I was confident with my skills. Luckily, I have a good VLJ. Even so, I have written for some stinkers of VLJs. Yet, I dealt with it and just pushed through. Each VLJ wants things a certain way, we cannot get around that.

What I will say is that getting "fully successful" v. "exceptional" on year-end evals seems to be causing controversy. Some VLJs will give your work a 3 and others will give the same work a 5. Admin needs to address that.

Unless you’ve been treated badly by a VLJ, you won’t understand how truly bad it can get at the Board. I’ve seen several BVA attorneys, who received excellent performance appraisals year after year for 10 or 20+ years, get pushed out the door after they were assigned to one of the toxic VLJs.

Things may be going great for you now, but things can deteriorate quickly if you’re reassigned to the wrong VLJ. The toxic ones don’t care how well you write. If they hate you for some reason, you better watch out.

You just described life in general. HAHA. It can be good one day and bad the next. As I said, it's all personal to each individual.

That attitude is so common at the Board. Get sexual harassed... that's life. Get screamed at...that's life. Get set up to fail... that's life and so on. That's why the toxic environment the Board at the Board has stayed the same, except for that brief period when Carol DiBattiste was in charge. Carol refused to adopt the "that's life" attitude and refused to normalize toxicity in the workplace. Most people at the Board aren't asking to be BFFs with BVA management... they just don't want to work in a toxic work environment.

Well, I have never experienced that at the Board, nor do I know anyone who has. I know from others it has occurred in the past, but to hold on to the "toxic" label is also toxic. Management is lackluster, but I don't see them as toxic. VLJs are independent. If there is a problem, the government provides avenues to report unethical acts. But just because someone may not "get along" with a VLJ because they want rewrites or you are not doing things the way they want, there is little that can be done. Whining certainly doesn't help.

When people say that VLJs/ALJs are independent, they mean decisional independence, meaning that VLJs/ALJs render decisions without agency interference. However, VLJs/ALJs are still employed by their respective agencies and subject to their agency's rules and policies, such as anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies. I can assure you that most of the alleged whiners are not whining about VLJs rewriting their work. Rather, many of the complaints about the Board relate to VLJs berating attorneys, setting them up to fail in order to make themselves look good, etc. Prior to the pandemic, there were even incidents of VLJs throwing objects and papers at attorneys. Unfortunately, BVA management defaults to characterizing anyone who complains as whiners. Management's tendency to blame people who complain about bullying and harassment is the main reason why I consider the work environment at BVA to be toxic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has been ongoing for awhile now. I wonder if anyone has actually chosen not to join the Board because of this thread? Have people actually been encouraged by the thread? Or is it just current employees discussing workplace grievances at this point?

Good question. Personally, I take everything said here with high skepticism. Personally, I joined the Board despite the negative comments, and it was the best career decision I ever made. For obvious reasons (i.e., identification), I won't reveal too much info about myself. I will say I had substantial litigation experience before joining the Board. I hated litigation. I am NOT a people person. This position has allowed me to excel at what I do best, write. I considered being put with a bad VLJ, but I knew I write well and would have to adapt. So, I was confident with my skills. Luckily, I have a good VLJ. Even so, I have written for some stinkers of VLJs. Yet, I dealt with it and just pushed through. Each VLJ wants things a certain way, we cannot get around that.

What I will say is that getting "fully successful" v. "exceptional" on year-end evals seems to be causing controversy. Some VLJs will give your work a 3 and others will give the same work a 5. Admin needs to address that.

Unless you’ve been treated badly by a VLJ, you won’t understand how truly bad it can get at the Board. I’ve seen several BVA attorneys, who received excellent performance appraisals year after year for 10 or 20+ years, get pushed out the door after they were assigned to one of the toxic VLJs.

Things may be going great for you now, but things can deteriorate quickly if you’re reassigned to the wrong VLJ. The toxic ones don’t care how well you write. If they hate you for some reason, you better watch out.

You just described life in general. HAHA. It can be good one day and bad the next. As I said, it's all personal to each individual.

That attitude is so common at the Board. Get sexual harassed... that's life. Get screamed at...that's life. Get set up to fail... that's life and so on. That's why the toxic environment the Board at the Board has stayed the same, except for that brief period when Carol DiBattiste was in charge. Carol refused to adopt the "that's life" attitude and refused to normalize toxicity in the workplace. Most people at the Board aren't asking to be BFFs with BVA management... they just don't want to work in a toxic work environment.

Well, I have never experienced that at the Board, nor do I know anyone who has. I know from others it has occurred in the past, but to hold on to the "toxic" label is also toxic. Management is lackluster, but I don't see them as toxic. VLJs are independent. If there is a problem, the government provides avenues to report unethical acts. But just because someone may not "get along" with a VLJ because they want rewrites or you are not doing things the way they want, there is little that can be done. Whining certainly doesn't help.

The problem is that this attitude discounts the experiences of people who have been harassed at the Board. It is not just not "getting along." There were managers who were actively harassing employees, dragging them into personnel actions such as PIPs and/or removals, and even lying about the employees' work product. If this happened to you, it is hard to forget it. It's like telling a woman to forget about being beat up by her boyfriend because he never beat you up.

Of course people should try to move forward, but the people who are bitter are that way for a good reason.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These are not solely Board issues. They are general American workplace issues. If you have only ever worked at the Board, that's all you have to go by. But having worked in other state agencies, these events occur there also. Do not believe the Board is the only place problems occur. So, for all the complaints - which are justifiable understandable - you have to adjust, otherwise you should just quit and never work again, or just run your own law business.

yes there are other bad places out there. But, I've been in the workforce professionally for 27 years and the Board is by far the most dysfunctional poorly managed place I've been.

I had the same role in three other state agencies, and they were A LOT worse than the Board.

If you want to know how bad a government agency can be, work at the local or county level. The Board is leaps and bounds above them.

The Board is leaps and bounds above them FOR YOU. You seem not to understand that other people have a different experience than you. Try to understand people other than yourself.

And you don't seem to understand you don't have it as bad as you think. Try to understand other people yourself.

New poster here. You probably don’t think the Board is as bad as the state and local offices that you previously worked at because you either have a good supervisor now or are currently employed as a VLJ/manager and are treated better than the rank and file.

Have you seen the employee surveys from the union? Most BVA employees view the Board as toxic.

[Anonymous]

I’ll leave as soon as I can find something better. Thinking of all of my peers who are struggling at the Board. You are not alone.

[Anonymous]

New poster. I agree with a lot of what has been said in the last few posts. The Board is a good place for some and a bad place for others. Like any job. Take it all with a grain of salt. I like it, but that's me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster. I agree with a lot of what has been said in the last few posts. The Board is a good place for some and a bad place for others. Like any job. Take it all with a grain of salt. I like it, but that's me.

Like any job? Hmm… do other jobs have a dedicate section on an online forum with more than 1,250 comments discussing whether or not the job is bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster. I agree with a lot of what has been said in the last few posts. The Board is a good place for some and a bad place for others. Like any job. Take it all with a grain of salt. I like it, but that's me.

Like any job? Hmm… do other jobs have a dedicate section on an online forum with more than 1,250 comments discussing whether or not the job is bad?

Yes? Have you ever read Reddit? LOL. Showing your ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster. I agree with a lot of what has been said in the last few posts. The Board is a good place for some and a bad place for others. Like any job. Take it all with a grain of salt. I like it, but that's me.

Like any job? Hmm… do other jobs have a dedicate section on an online forum with more than 1,250 comments discussing whether or not the job is bad?

Yes? Have you ever read Reddit? LOL. Showing your ignorance.

There are hundreds more posts on Reddit about BVA. The posters there have the same concerns about BVA as the posters here.

While there are threads on Reddit discussing various jobs, none of them are quite like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster. I agree with a lot of what has been said in the last few posts. The Board is a good place for some and a bad place for others. Like any job. Take it all with a grain of salt. I like it, but that's me.

Like any job? Hmm… do other jobs have a dedicate section on an online forum with more than 1,250 comments discussing whether or not the job is bad?

Yes? Have you ever read Reddit? LOL. Showing your ignorance.

There are hundreds more posts on Reddit about BVA. The posters there have the same concerns about BVA as the posters here.

While there are threads on Reddit discussing various jobs, none of them are quite like this.

Wow. You need mental therapy. All you are doing is moaning, whining, and complaining. Do you even work at the Board or were you fired? You try to justify all of your own opinions by saying "nope, not good enough" to anyone with an opinion or fact contrary to your own. I am done posting in response to you.

Seriously, SEEK MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY. If you do work at the Board, I can see why you hate it. You are your own worse enemy. And if you were fired by the Board, I understand why, you're nuts.