The Department of Veterans Affairs depicted dissatisfied veterans as "Oscar the Grouch" in training materials obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia VA staff attending a town hall meeting last week were shown a slideshow, "What to Say to Oscar the Grouch—Dealing with Veterans During Town Hall Claims Clinics," that included pictures of the misanthropic garbage-can dwelling puppet.
"There is no time or place to make light of the current crisis that the VA is in," Joe Davis, a national spokesman for the VFW, told the Inquirer. "And especially to insult the VA's primary customer."
From the Inquirer:
The cranky Sesame Street character who lives in a garbage can was used in reference to veterans who will attend town-hall events Wednesday in Philadelphia. […]
The 18-page slide show on how to help veterans with their claims, presented to VA employees Friday and obtained by The Inquirer, also says veterans might be demanding and unrealistic and tells VA staffers to apologize for the "perception" of the agency.
The spokeswoman from the Philadelphia VA benefits office—which will host the town halls Wednesday at noon and 6:30 p.m.—said in a statement that the agency regretted any misunderstanding caused by the slide show.
"The training provided was not intended to equate veterans with this character," spokeswoman Marisa Prugsawan said. "It was intended to remind our employees to conduct themselves as courteously and professionally as possible when dealing with veterans and their concerns."
She said the guide appeared to be an old internal document from which employees at the Philadelphia office pulled information ahead of Friday's training. Prugsawan said she was unsure if the original slide show comparing veterans to Oscar had been created locally or by the national VA office and sent to regional centers.