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Mother blames son’s suicide on work harassment at VA Loma Linda.
“It appears the pervasive culture of the VA is to ignore abusive behavior toward employees,” Sharon Sperry said of her son, a Marine Corps veteran.

Sharon L. Sperry of Sedona, Arizona, alleges in the U.S. District Court suit that “countless complaints” from her son, Ryan Joseph Sperry, and other VA Loma Linda employees regarding grounds supervisor Martin Robles were ignored, exacerbating her son’s post-traumatic stress disorder and resulting in his death on Aug. 9, 2022.

“Ryan did not like what he saw and experienced through the continual hostility and harassment from his immediate supervisor toward employees of this department and was trying to go through the right channels to lodge his complaints,” Sharon Sperry said in a statement. “He became a victim of that hostility and harassment and it sickens us to this day.”

A 2021 federal investigation recommended that Robles be fired for creating a hostile and racially charged work environment. However, instead of being terminated, he was inexplicably promoted and still works at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, which has more than 2,400 employees and 1,300 volunteers who serve more than 76,000 veterans.

Supervisor Keeps Job

Sharon Sperry alleges in the suit that Robles, who isn’t a veteran, harbors hatred toward subordinates who, like her son, served in the military. “Robles would make offensive comments to veterans about their time served in the military, such as telling the decendent that he was a “stupid Marine” and told decedent that he “should have died out there”, referring to his time in the Marines. Robles also told decedent that veterans are lazy and don’t deserve to work at the VA”.

In one incident, a neighbor’s ring camera captured video of Robles arriving at Sperry’s home, banging on the door, looking for a way to get in and, ultimately, breaking two windows, the suit states.

This harassment and conduct played a large role in triggering decedent’s PTSD, making him feel unsafe and ultimately lead to his worsening emotional state which culminated in his suicide.”

Note from Mr. Sperry. (Ryan’s father), Ryan kept all of this from his family. We found out after his death. Many of his co-workers came up to us and filled us in on how Ryan stood up to management for all of them. He filed a 5 page complaint with the administration on behalf of himself and the other workers in the group. There was a Congressional investigation, into the many years of complaints which led up to Ryan’s suicide. This investigation was led by Rep. Jay Olbernolte District 23.

In the years since, all of the employees were moved or promoted out of the department and given NDAs. The supervisor was also promoted out of the department. According to the article, Robles was the focus of two other VA Loma Linda investigations in 202 and 2022 that substantiated allegations that he fostered a hostile work environment.