Rally for Freddy: Honorable Vet in Need

Hello All,

My name is Stacey Tolle, and I am a HR Specialist with the Veteran's Health Administration. Recently, one of my co-workers, Freddy May, was laid off in the mass firings of probationary employees from the Trump administration and the DOGE Team even though Freddy had been a VHA employee for 15 years and had always received excellent performance ratings during his time at the VHA. I want to tell you a bit about Freddy and the challenge he is facing now.

Freddy grew up in Boise, ID with his folks, brother and sister. After High School graduation, he decided to serve his country and joined the Army and did so honorably for 5 years with the 101st Airborne Division. His Dad, an Army Vietnam vet (also in the 101st Airborne) and his brother, an Army Ranger both served honorably.

In 2011, after receiving medical care at the Boise VA Medical Center, saw how amazing the experience was, decided why not try and work there. To work alongside fellow veterans and serving veterans would be a dream come true and a career he could be proud of. Freddy eventually got hired into an entry level EVS technician (sanitation). He quickly got the hang of the whole "government" employee experience and started thriving. Freddy quickly got promoted within his department to a training position, and eventually into a supervisory role. He was an exceptional supervisor with good performance ratings and built a good working reputation with not only his employees, but with all his co-workers around the facility, clinical and non-clinical.

In 2021, Freddy decided he needed to learn more and broaden his knowledge. He did this by interviewing and accepting an assistant manager position at the Roseburg, Oregon VA Health Care System. He lived and worked out of Eugene and absolutely loved the beautiful state of Oregon.

In 2024, Freddy made the bold choice of moving out of his current department and into a Human Resources role. You see, his heart was always into helping other employees and providing them information, answering questions, helping his applicants onboard quickly, and preaching about the importance of their benefits. He was hired into a Human Resources Assistant role in February of 2024 with the Site Support Team, a role in which he would quickly fall in love with. Freddy was a happy, genuine, and productive team member and loved helping people from the different VA sites he supported. The only catch, a brief one-year probation since he was moving into a new occupation. No big deal, after all, he's always exceeded expectations.

Feb 13, 2025 - Freddy was terminated, under guidance from the DOGE team, while on probationary status with 12 days left before he was converted off probation. The reason for termination was "performance." How can that be when he received outstanding ratings?

With more than 18 federal service years, Freddy quickly found himself without a job, loss of wages, benefits, and not even a severance offer. Just like that, out the door you go. Thank you for your service with the VA and who cares that you are a veteran who served his country honorably. We don't need you anymore. I bet a lot of his former co-workers at the Boise VA needed him and still go to him for work related topics and HR guidance.

Freddy is now out of work and is struggling with depression and anxiety. He is updating his resume and looking for what is out there. But make no mistake, he is definitely refuting this wrongful termination by all ways necessary. He has reached out to his elected officials, contacted law firms, and reached out to news outlets.

The fact is he is not getting a paycheck and will not be able to pay bills in the coming months. I feel our high achieving employees and veterans like Freddy deserve to be treated a lot better. He was one of our Teams star performers and his absence has affected our Team deeply.

Thank you for any support that you can provide.