An openly gay veteran who worked with Stephen Pina, of Brockton, said that he created a "toxic" work environment at the Providence Regional Benefit Office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Pina is the former Brockton official and football coach who posted a comment online calling Patriots players who knelt during the national anthem "turds," adding, "dance monkey dance."

BROCKTON – In the wake of a controversy over his “monkey” remark aimed at kneeling members of the New England Patriots, a former colleague of Brockton’s Stephen Pina complained that he has created a “toxic environment” at the veterans service center he manages in Providence.

Peter Rogers, who was a human resources specialist at the Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Providence, said he left for another government job two years ago due to similarly insensitive remarks made at work by Pina.

“I left because of him,” said Rogers, who now works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “The work environment there is awful because of him.”

Rogers said he is an openly gay veteran who served 23 years in the military, including a tour in Afghanistan as an air traffic controller for the Air Force.

The 44-year-old Virginia native said he recalled one moment on the job for the VA regional office when he was driving Pina and other colleagues to an event at a VFW in Warwick, R.I. Rogers claimed that Pina made homophobic remarks during the ride.

“He was pounding on the dashboard, yelling all kinds of obscenities and f-bombs,” said Rogers, claiming that Pina used a derogatory term for gay people. “I was completely blown away by his behavior.”

A current colleague of Pina at his Providence office, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said on Wednesday that Pina was still working for the VA office this week, following a social media post that landed him in hot water with Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter and a Pop Warner football league. Pina made a comment under a Facebook story about the New England Patriots who knelt on Sunday during the national anthem, calling them “turds,” adding, “dance monkey dance.”

The mayor called on Pina to resign from his position on the Brockton Parks and Recreation Commisssion, which he did, after Pina made a comment on a Facebook story about the New England Patriots who knelt on Sunday during the national anthem. The Brockton Junior Boxers said Pina stepped down as a coach, after the youth football league made a statement calling for him to step down.

Pina has been working for the VA regional office from home this week, the colleague said on Wednesday. Pina received a $120,000 salary last year as the manager of the Veterans Service Center, overseeing 157 government employees at the downtown office on Westminster Street.

However, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said it is considering potential action by the end of Friday in regards to Pina’s “monkey” post, which was widely condemned as racist, including by the Brockton branch of the NAACP. “The issue has not been resolved,” a spokesperson for the Providence office said on Thursday.

Pina said he had no racist intentions when he made the “monkey” post, and didn’t think it would be perceived that way. Pina told the Brockton Enterprise that he is a combat veteran who deeply respects the flag and believes professional athletes should stand for it.

An effort to reach Pina for this story has been unsuccessful.

The Enterprise reached out for comment to a spokesperson for the VA regional office in Providence, who declined to comment on Rogers’ complaints. But he defended the reputation of the Providence Regional Benefit Office as an inclusive, diverse work environment.

“We're an employer of choice here in Providence,” said Mark Ramos, adding that 70 percent of employees there are veterans. “We have a large, diverse workforce, dedicated to doing the work for veterans, servicing veterans and their families, and we have a pretty good national reputation within an our organization.”

A press secretary for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said Rogers' claims represent a "serious new allegations" against Pina, in addition to his social media comments reported previously.

"We’re conferring with general counsel and the regional office director to determine the appropriate actions with respect to the previously reported comments and are on track to make a decision by close of business (Friday)," said Curt Cashour, press secretary for Veterans Affairs. "We have brought these new allegations to the attention to the regional office director as well, and they will look into them and take appropriate action."

Rogers said he began working at the VA Regional Office in Providence in 2011, two years before Pina arrived there. During their time working together, Rogers said Pina acted like a “shock jock,” trying to create controversy.

“I was the subject to his homophobia and witnessed his racism while working at the VA,” Rogers said. “He just gets away with so much, so much more than any other person I've seen. The work environment there is awful because of it. ... I couldn't get over the destructive, crazy behavior he demonstrated while he was there.”

Rogers said others have also left positions at the Providence VA regional office due to Pina’s behavior.

Rogers said he believes there’s a “very good chance” that Pina will be fired over his “monkey” comment, especially since President Trump’s White House administration signed the VA Accountability act into law in June.

Rogers said that the Veterans Affairs Regional Office would never treat veteran clients in the way Pina treats the veterans who work there. Rogers said he didn’t report directly to Pina, who is second in command at the Providence office. But Rogers said his job was to support Pina on personnel issues.

“He'll chastise, harass and bully,” said Rogers said. “There are many more examples of this type of behavior ... You may forget a name. You may forget a face. But you never ever forget the way someone makes you feel.”