The country was shocked and horrified when e-mails sent by the supervisor of the transitional clinic at the Indianapolis VA hospital were found to mock veteran suicides, the latest in a long line of scandals and controversy surrounding the VA.
Robin Paul was initially placed on leave, but she has now turned in her resignation in what reads as an attempt to make herself the victim of the situation.
Quoting her “excellent work history” with the VA, Paul said that her career is “effectively over” in a statement to the Indianapolis Star.
Complaining of public and political pressure against her, Paul resigned. Showing that she still apparently does not understand the problem with her actions, she tried to excuse the e-mails, saying, “The ‘elf’ email I sent in December 2014 was to an internal staff email group following a clinic holiday lunch party. I take full responsibility for sending the email; however, the intent of the email and pictures has been misrepresented. My intent was not to mock Veterans; the intent was to thank the team for their work in dealing with tough issues on a daily basis. The elf did not represent a Veteran; it was a toy elf — nothing more.”
In the e-mails, an elf was portrayed as a patient at the VA clinic and posed in a variety of situations which grew progressively sicker. The elf begged for refills on prescriptions, was shown self-medicating, and finally, hanging himself with Christmas lights.
22 veterans commit suicide every day.
Paul said that she used poor judgment in sending the e-mail, and apologized to veterans and “anyone else who I offended.”
