FOIA Appeal
Freedom of Informaiton Act (FOIA) Appeal; Appeal Denied; Adequacy of Search
On March 20, 2020, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Appeal filed by Ron Walli (Appellant) from a final determination issued by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Office (ORO). This matter had previously been remanded in the case Ron Walli, OHA Case No. FIA-20-0018 (2020) (Walli). In that case, OHA directed that "ORO determine what type of search [the] OGC conducted and, depending on its findings, to conduct further processing of the Appellant's FOIA request."
On March 6, 2020, ORO issued a second Determination Letter in response to the instructions provided in Walli. This Determination Letter states OGC "performed searches of its internal files, which are maintained electronically via a cloud-based filing system, working hardcopy files" and the e-mail accounts of two different attorneys for the phrase "Fairness of Opportunity" within the period beginning November 1, 2016 and ending January 30, 2017.
The Appellant filed an appeal within the allotted time, challenging the adequacy of the search. Given the description of the searches conducted by OGC, including the locations of the searches, we believe the search was reasonably calculated to discover responsive documents should they have existed. Accordingly, the Appellant's appeal was denied. OHA Case No. FIA-20-0021.
Personnel Security Hearing
Personnel Security; Access Authorization Restored; Guideline G (Alcohol Consumption), Guideline J (Criminal Conduct)
On March 16, 2020, an Administrative Judge determined that an individual's access authorization under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 should be restored. The Individual is employed by a DOE contractor in a position that requires him to hold a DOE security clearance. On two occasions, each for a separate incident, the Individual reported to the local security office ( LSO) that he had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Consequently, the LSO referred the Individual for psychological evaluation, and the psychologist determined the Individual met the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder, Moderate, and provided recommendations for rehabilitation or reformation. The LSO subsequently suspended the Individual's security clearance due to concerns arising from the Individual's diagnoses and alcohol use, his alcohol-related criminal offenses, and his past arrest and criminal history. During the hearing, the Administrative Judge found that the Individual had mitigated the Guideline G concerns because, among other reasons, he had abstained from alcohol for over a year as recommended by the diagnosing psychologist, acknowledged his maladaptive alcohol use, successfully completed an in-patient treatment program, actively participated in AA, and developed a supportive network. The Administrative Judge also found the Individual had mitigated the Guideline J concerns because the Individual had resolved the underlying issues with alcohol consumption and, for the other non-alcohol related instances of criminal conduct, demonstrated sufficient time had passed without recurrence of the concerning behavior. As such, the Administrative Judge concluded that the Individual's access authorization should be restored. OHA Case No. PSH-20-0018 (James P. Thompson III).