Another item to consider before hiring a lawyer or spending a lot of money fighting…Virginia is a right to work state if that point isn’t already made above. They can terminate without cause, for any reason. Is it ethical to tell someone a made up reason verbally? Yes. If it isn’t in writing they will deny telling you this. But if you have this in writing you may have a job case…but not a clearance case.
@Marko, can you elaborate on what did you mean by “your citation is incorrect”?
I presumed that you were referencing to my statement in which I say that: Courts generally leave this stuff alone and typically/loosely refer to Navy v. Egan case.
There were federal cases involving Department of Homeland Security. Plaintiffs in these cases argued that suitability determination is not the same as security clearance determination. Nonetheless, the federal courts acknowledged that, but did not touch upon it. Instead they leave it alone by citing Navy v. Egan even though they find the agency engaged in questionable behavior (ie: in unsuitable letter, agency did not specify the reason and only to offer specific reason during EEO or litigation process). These cases were not alone.
As for the Navy v. Egan, Supreme Court essentially says that Merit System Promotion does not have the jurisdiction. It is silent on the jurisdiction of federal courts. Unless I am mistaken, Congress has not prohibited federal courts to hear cases such as this one hence the suggestion.
Still federal courts, in my opinion, erroneously refer back to Navy v. Egan along with few other cases. I am of opinion that this can be challenged in federal courts and probably will need congressional help on this one. Anyway, I will stop here.
By for any reason, did you mean any reason other than discriminatory reason?
Navy vs Egan deals ONLY with security clearance cases. The OP is undergoing the public trust process.
Yes, that is true. One has to be deemed suitable for the job by a federal agency in accordance with Title 5 of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) regardless of position designation (security clearance vs public trust) with exception of those under Title 10 CFR. As I stated that courts generally find suitability issue “unappealable.” As I said, Navy v. Egan has been erroneously applied in various court decisions.
Perfect, just wanted to clarify for the general audience.
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Its December and i have yet to receive any copy of the BI, no letter stating why i was terminated, nothing. FOIA request has come back yet either.
Also FCRA covers BI’s and erroneous reports so I’ve learned since then and never gave them my SSN for an unofficial report, which Im guessing was conducted so it was name based only.
Does a suitability include an SSN check?
I was already working on site when this all happened.
True but the organization is headquartered in Washington, DC. I would assume every person that may an issue wouldn’t have to go by the rules of the state in which they sit. This org has sites all over the country.
Not sure what state you are in but you may want to see if you can get a copy of your criminal history.
I know in NY you can get those records from the Department of Criminal Justice Services. Try calling the equivalent in your state or your State Police.
This way you would know if someone may have stolen your identity or gave your name and DOB when they got arrested
I did get my criminal history report from the court as well as having received a BI from my next employer as well as my current employer. No felonies.
I have a question for everyone. When you receive an adverse action, should you get a copy of the report that led to the action? Per FCRA, I know I should but maybe rules are different for DHS.
So the story has changed from me being ‘unclearable’ to me not having a favorable EOD but them letting me start. After this whole debacle, they decide the position was too important and did not want to wait on clearance process. Very convenient, to say the least. CYA!