I don’t want to bring it up but should I? Termination

I know most will say disclose, but has anyone gotten Secret clearance without disclosing previous employer termination (4 yrs ago). I worked for a well known Bank for over 2 yrs, my managers loved me. I moved to a different state and worked for the same bank with different coworkers. There was one particular coworker who was bossy and training for assistant branch manager. He asked me to do something that I now realize was a violation of policy. At the time there was not a manager I could reach out to make sure what this coworker was telling me was the right thing to do. This resulted in me being fired. With that being said, I have read that big coorporations won’t diclose terminations just dates of employment to avoid lawsuits. Any input on this is greatly appreciated. This is for secret clearance, I have completed an SF85 for public trust in the past and nothing came up.

Section 13 of SF-86 specifically asks you to list this information. I don’t think SF-85 asks you that question, however, OF-306 (Declaration of Federal Employment) specifically asks you this question. Judging from your post, should I safely presume that you did not list it on OF-306?

With secret clearance, you will be investigated periodically. So, there is a chance that the termination will come up. Not necessarily from your company HR, but from sources that a background investigator developed during course of investigation. Without being upfront about this, you will almost certainly be confronted with this information and given an opportunity to respond. However, there is also a good chance that you will be hit with lack of candor, which will be difficult to mitigate. On top of that, you can potentially lose your current job if you were asked to list the termination and you didn’t.

3 Likes

Report it and explain it. Any documentation you might have would help. Explain that you were asked to do something unethical, or illegal, explain what you were asked do and provide documentation, if you can, that it was a violation of policy.

Things happen and this doesn’t seem nearly as bad a most of what happens.

It doesn’t matter if the policy of the company is to give out limited information. All it takes is for one of your references to mention and then you have an honesty problem.

1 Like

I don’t have any documentation and if I did it would probably be on my work email which, of course, I no longer have access too. Honestly I’m glad I came across this page because I wasn’t going to disclose it but the more I read the more I realize my termination was not as bad as I thought. More people get terminated than I thought. In a way disclosing will set me free because it hunts me every time I apply for a job. I don’t have anything that would ring red flags besides this. Last question. My sister is a resident and it asks for her residency number or alien registration number. Do I really need to put that? Idk if my sister would provide me that information. I haven’t asked her but it’s weird. Thank you

I have not submitted SF86 yet. I’m glad I haven’t becacaue I’m learning a lot off this page. How do I know what type of clearance I’m getting? All I know is that it is “secret” clearance but I hear others talking about tiers and such.

Ed nailed it. Completely. You seem reluctant to give full disclosure. These items are asked for and you do not have a choice of not providing it. Your sister however can. If she refuses you state that. Some times family is estranged, not uncommon to find that. As for the termination…that section is quite clear: laid off, mutual agreement under unsat conditions, etc. Not reporting that doesn’t put you in a good light for full disclosure and honesty. If you can research the Bank policies and engage corporate HR, you may very well change the characterization of the termination. It will simply be a few sentences in the HR digital archive. If and when they look at it, they will see what is recorded. If the bank understands you aren’t seeking money or a lawsuit they may very well change the characterization of the termination. That may require a lawyer at this stage. But we have no way of understanding how you responded to this training person giving you bad info…if they did this.

While you are only going for a Secret clearance now, what happens if you get a job that requires a top secret level investigation? For a Secret clearance investigation there is a chance that they won’t find out about the termination, but they almost certainly will should you have to get an SSBI done. Once the government finds out that you hid this from them in prior investigations, you can pretty much kiss your chance at getting or maintaining a clearance good-bye. People get fired all the time and if that is your only incident, then you should still be able to get a clearance. However, by trying to hide it, you will almost certainly have bigger issues down the road.

1 Like

How do you go about correcting the record then? Do you just be completely candid on the SF86 and wait for contact from an investigator or are you supposed to contact OPM?

Once the clearance package leaves the FSO it is difficult to change. The company can cancel the request, you submit a fresh one and that nfo goes forward, but if they were waiting to get you cleared for several months just to start over again, they may pull back the job offer. I have had polygraphs where the polygrapher had an old SF86 and questioned me based on those answers, not the fresh SF86 I submitted. So there were a few disconnects. If they are minor and do not involve a serious matter…you may get the benefit of the doubt. If it is a substantial falsification…claiming you had a steller work record and you did not…or claim you were never fired, but were…