Personnel Security Hearing (PSH)

Personnel Security Case; Access Authorization Not Restored; Guidelines E and F

On June 28, 2019, an Administrative Judge issued a decision in which she determined that an individual’s DOE access authorization should not be restored. The local security office (LSO) denied the Individual access authorization pursuant to Guidelines E and F. The LSO asserted that the Individual had failed to file or pay federal income taxes for several years, the Individual had accumulated numerous financial delinquencies, and the Individual failed to fully disclose adverse information concerning her finances and her voluminous workplace disciplinary history during the investigative process. The Individual testified at the hearing that her failure to fully disclose the adverse information was the product of carelessness, not an intent to deceive, and that she would exercise greater diligence in the future when answering security-related questions. The Individual also testified that she had filed her federal income tax returns, had made arrangements with the IRS to pay back taxes, and had made significant progress towards resolving her financial delinquencies. However, the Individual did not provide any documentation to support these claims. The Administrative Judge determined that, in light of the voluminous adverse information presented by the LSO and the Individual’s history of providing inconsistent and incomplete information concerning her finances and disciplinary history, the Individual’s unsubstantiated testimony was not enough to mitigate the security concerns. Accordingly, the Administrative Judge determined that the Individual’s access authorization should not be restored. OHA Case No. PSH-19-0019 (Brooke A. DuBois).