Decisions were issued on: - Personnel Security - FOIA Appeal
Office of Hearings and Appeals
March 25, 2022
minute read time
FOIA Appeal (FIA)
On March 25, 2022, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal filed by Emma Best (Appellant) concerning the response of DOE's Office of Public Information (OPI) to her FOIA request for a documents regarding DOE's use of "still interested" letters. OPI conducted a search of DOE records, but no responsive records were located. On appeal, Appellant asserted that the search was inadequate. The OHA determined that OPI's search was reasonably calculated to discover any responsive documents. Accordingly, OHA denied the appeal. (OHA Case No. FIA-22-0009)
Personnel Security Hearing (PSH)
Access Authorization Restored; Guidelines F (Financial Considerations), and Guideline I (Psychological Conditions)
On March 21, 2022, an Administrative Judge (AJ) determined that an individual's access authorization under 10 C.F.R. Part 710 should be restored. A Local Security Office (LSO) obtained information indicating that the Individual's had outstanding federal tax debts that resulted from her claiming an excessive number of exemptions used to calculate her payroll withholdings and substantial credit card and personal loan debt. The LSO requested a DOE Consultant Psychologist to evaluate the Individual. The Psychologist concluded that the Individual had demonstrated irrational, illogical thinking about her finances which had impaired her judgment regarding the extent of her debt . The Psychologist accordingly recommended that the Individual receive counseling from a therapist who could help her address underlying motivations for her pattern of financial mismanagement, and that she should consult with a financial planner who could hold her accountable to a realistic financial plan.
The AJ found that the Individual's conduct raised four security concerns. The first security concern was raised by the Individual's outstanding debt to the IRS. The AJ found that this concern was first mitigated when the Individual entered a repayment plan with the IRS, and then further mitigated when the Individual paid this debt in full. The second security concern was raised by the extremely poor judgment exhibited by the Individual when she purposely claimed too many exemptions in order to reduce her tax withholdings from her paycheck. The AJ found that the Individual mitigated this concern by stopping this practice and claiming only one exemption. The third security concern was raised by the Individual's accumulation of over $ 80,000 of credit card and personal loan debt. The AJ found that Individual had shown that she obtained financial advice, changed her behavior, and reduced her debt from $81,160 to $46,740. The fourth security concern was raised when the Psychologist, noting the Individual's financial predicament, raised a concern about her judgment, reliability, and trustworthiness, and recommended that she receive behavioral and financial counseling. The AJ found that the Individual, had mitigated this concern by complying with the Psychologist's recommendations and the Psychologist provided further mitigation of this concern by testifying at the hearing that the Individual had shown reformation.
The Administrative Judge therefore concluded that the Individual's access authorization should be restored. (OHA Case No. PSH-21-0087, Fine)