Decisions were issued on: - Personnel Security - FOIA Appeal
Office of Hearings and Appeals
December 1, 2023
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FOIA Appeal (FIA)
FOIA; Appeal Denied
On November 27, 2023, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied the Freedom of Information (FOIA) Appeal filed by the David Rosenthal (Appellant) from a determination letter issued by the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). On appeal, the Appellant challenged the adequacy of NNSA's search. After reviewing NNSA's response, we found that NNSA directed the request to an experienced employee who used her experience to determine appropriate places to search. She then conducted a search using keywords from the Appellant's request. When that request returned no results, she checked with other agency employees in the appropriate offices to determine if there would be any other appropriate search locations and found she had searched all relevant locations. Therefore, we deny the appeal. (OHA Case No. FIA-24-0003)
Personnel Security Hearing (PSH)
Access Authorization Not Granted; Guideline F (Financial Considerations)
On November 21, 2023, an Administrative Jude determined that the Individual's access authorization should not be granted under 10 C.F.R. Part 710. The Individual is employed by a DOE contractor in a position that requires him to hold a security clearance. The Local Security Office (LSO) received potentially derogatory information indicating that the Individual had failed to file his federal income taxes for tax years 2020 and 2021. The Individual testified on his own behalf as to the circumstances that led to this situation, including that his wife had been solely responsible for the couple's finances, that she was unable to file the taxes for tax years 2020 and 2021 due a serious illness, that he remained unaware of their financial woes throughout this time, and that the Individual's efforts to engage the services of tax professionals since his wife's death has so far not yielded any success. There was no testimony or written accounts from witnesses with knowledge of his situation, and there were no documents or receipts that could corroborate his efforts to resolve his financial situation, outside of the unfiled income taxes . At the time of the hearing, the Individual's federal income taxes remained unfiled. The Admiistrative Judge could not conclude that the Individual had mitigated the stated Guideline F concerns. ( OHA Case No. PSH-23-0123, Rahimzadeh)