PSH-21-0074 - In the Matter of Personnel Security Hearing

On August 24, 2021, an Administrative Judge determined that an Individual's access authorization should not be restored under 10 C.F.R. Part 710. On January 10, 2020, during an interview with an OPM investigator, the Individual volunteered that he believed that three of his colleagues who he thought to be of Chinese descent were trying to sabotage a project on which he had worked in 2011 and to gain information to provide to the Chinese government. The Individual expressed fear that the interview room might be "bugged" and that his life would be in danger if his colleagues learned of his disclosures. The Individual subsequently contacted an FBI agent concerning his suspicions. The FBI agent notified the local security office that the Individual was "long on accusations but woefully short on substance that could be followed up on." The Individual met with a DOE-contracted psychologist (DOE Psychologist) for an evaluation. The DOE Psychologist diagnosed him with Delusional Disorder, Persecutory Type, Continuous under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fifth Edition, and opined that this condition impaired his judgment, stability, reliability, or trustworthiness. At the hearing, a psychiatrist who the Individual retained for an evaluation opined that the Individual was improperly diagnosed with Delusional Disorder. The psychiatrist argued that the DOE Psychologist could not be certain that the Individual's beliefs were false, and that his suspicions were better explained as the product of the Individual's cultural conservatism and patriotism than delusions. The Individual testified that he was not certain that his colleagues were engaged in espionage on behalf of the Chinese government, but that he believed that their behaviors justified his suspicions. The DOE Psychologist asserted that the Individual's paranoid suspicions were so unlikely to be true that they constituted delusions that impaired his judgment and reliability. The Administrative Judge determined that the Individual did not demonstrate insight into the paranoia he displayed over innocuous behaviors by his colleagues and that the DOE Psychologist's opinion better explained the Individual's beliefs and conduct than the psychiatrist's. Therefore, the Administrative Judge determined that the Individual had not resolved the security concerns under Guideline I and that his access authorization should not be restored. Case No. PSH-21-0074 (Phillip Harmonick)