Decisions were issued on: - Personnel Security - FOIA Appeal
Office of Hearings and Appeals
September 8, 2023
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FOIA Appeal (FIA)
FOIA; Appeal Granted
On September 7, 2023, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) granted the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal filed by Anna Noteboom from a final determination letter (Determination Letter) issue by the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). On Appeal, the Appellant argued that the agency failed to conduct an adequate search.
An examination of the information provided revealed that the Appellant had clearly stated the responsive documents she was seeking and had provided information regarding the location of the files. The NNSA issued a Determination Letter indicating that no responsive documents had been located. The Appellant filed a timely appeal and indicated that the search had been limited to email when she had asked for a search of the Documents folder of the Microsoft Windows profile associated with her user identification. The search performed by NNSA was inadequate, as the NNSA not only failed to use methods which could be reasonably expected to produce the information requested, but it failed to search the location most likely to hold the records. (OHA Case No. FIA-23- 0026)
Personnel Security Hearing (PSH)
Access Authorization not granted; Guideline F (Financial Considerations)
On September 7, 2023, an Administrative Judge (AJ) determined that an Individual's access authorization under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 should not be granted. The Individual is employed by a DOE contractor in a position that requires her to hold a security clearance. In May 2022, she submitted a Questionnaire for National Security Positions in which she disclosed she had several delinquent debts. The Local Security Office LSO subsequently discovered the Individual had unpaid collection accounts totaling approximately $16,568, unpaid charge off accounts totaling approximately $ 3972, and an outstanding judgment to a bank for $1500.
At the hearing, the Individual testified that from approximately June 2016 to August 2018, she took intermittent unpaid leave pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide care for her mother who was ill. She stated that she stopped making payments on her outstanding debts due to her lack of financial resources while she was on leave. The Individual testified that although she stopped taking FMLA leave in August 2018, and became employed full time in September 2018, she did not try to address her debts at that time. She admitted that she had not made any payments on any of her outstanding debts since 2018. She asserted she had subsequent financial difficulties due to health issues and legal expenses which made it difficult to pay her outstanding debts. However, the AJ found that the Individual had not acted responsibly under the circumstances because between when her outstanding debts were incurred in 2018 and the time of the hearing, there were at least two extended periods of time when the Individual did not allege she was facing significant financial challenges, September 2018 to July 2019 and September 2021 to June 2022. Nevertheless, the Individual did not attempt to address her debts during those times. Instead, she chose to wait until July 2023, one month prior to the hearing, to contact a debt settlement company to seek assistance in resolving her debts. Additionally, while the Individual had signed a contact with the debt settlement company, as of the hearing, she had yet to have a meeting with the company to address her debts . As the Individual had not resolved her outstanding debts, nor presented any indications that the problem is under control, the AJ found that the Individual had not mitigated the security concerns raised by her outstanding debts. The AJ concluded that the Individual's access authorization should not be granted. (OHA Case No. PSH-23-0096, Balzon)