• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Online Consultation
  • 757-460-3477

Bonney, Allenberg, O’Reilly, & Eddy, P.C.

Legal Assistance for Federal Employees

  • Home
  • Firm Overview
  • Practice Overview
  • Attorney Profiles
You are here: Home / Federal Employment / Security Clearances in Federal Employment

Jul 19, 2017

Security Clearances in Federal Employment

Many federal government employees are required to hold or be eligible to hold security clearances due to the nature of their work.  In the federal government, security clearances add an additional layer of complication to workplace requirements, and when employees are faced with an allegation that may affect their continued ability to hold a security clearance, lots of questions and confusion are bound to arise.

For Department of Defense employees, the Department of Defense Consolidated Adjudication Facility (DoDCAF) is primarily responsible for issuing security clearances to employees.  In making security clearance determinations, the DoDCAF relies upon certain adjudicative guidelines pertaining to certain types of behavior that may give rise to a concern about a person’s ability to hold a security clearance.  The adjudicative guidelines include Personal Conduct, Financial Considerations, Alcohol Consumption, Drug Involvement, Criminal Conduct, and a number of other items.  If the DoDCAF determines that one or more adjudicative guidelines may be applicable to a certain employee or applicant, the DoDCAF will issue a “Letter of Intent” to revoke or deny the person’s security clearance eligibility.  Every Letter of Intent includes a “Statement of Reasons” specifying the adjudicative guidelines that are called into question and the facts giving rise to the Letter of Intent.  The employee is then given the opportunity to respond in writing to the Letter of Intent by explaining any and all mitigating conditions and providing relevant documentation to support a finding that any security concern has been sufficiently mitigated.

If the DoDCAF ultimately decides to revoke or deny a person’s security clearance eligibility, the person will typically be able to elect to proceed to a personal appearance before an Administrative Judge who works for the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA).  The assigned Administrative Judge will then conduct a hearing and render a recommendation to the DoD Personnel Security Appeals Board (PSAB), which will then make a final determination regarding the person’s eligibility to hold a security clearance.

It is important to take the security clearance process very seriously from start to finish, as an employee’s ability to hold a security clearance is often a condition of their employment.  If the DoDCAF issues a final decision ultimately revoking or denying an employee’s security clearance eligibility, such a decision can lead to adverse action procedures within that employee’s federal employment.

If you have been issued a Letter of Intent to revoke or deny your security clearance eligibility and would like to discuss your situation with an attorney, please call the law firm of Bonney, Allenberg, & O’Reilly, P.C. to set up an initial consultation with one of our attorneys.

Categories: Federal Employment Tags: DoDCAF, security clearance

sidebar

Blog Sidebar

Categories

  • Federal Employment
  • MSPB
  • Uncategorized

Tags

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 arbitration congressional inquiry COVID-19 COVID19 disability disciplinary action discipline DoD CAF DoDCAF drug testing EEO EEO complaint emergency leave enforced leave EO13836 EO13837 EO13839 EO13950 EO13957 Executive Order failure to follow instructions federal employment federal employment law federal employment lawyer federal law FLRA grievance indefinite suspension insubordination marijuana MSPB reasonable accommodation religion Retaliation security clearance suspension Union Unions vaccine VA employee whistleblower disclosure whistleblower retaliation

Footer

Contact Us

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Recent Posts

After More than 5 Years, the MSPB Finally has a Quorum

At long last, on March 4, 2022, quorum was finally restored to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The MSPB plays an important role in safeguarding the federal merit systems.  Generally speaking, most non-probationary Appropriated Fund federal employees of the Executive Branch are Read More

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Federal Employees

On September 9, 2021, the White House announced that federal employees and contractors would be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, with exceptions only as required by federal law.  President Biden signed an Executive Order requiring each Executive Read More

Social Media

FacebookLinkedin

Bonney, Allenberg, O’Reilly, & Eddy, P.C.
4854 Haygood Rd., Suite 200 | Virginia Beach, VA 23455 | 757-460-3477

© 2012-2022 Bonney, Allenberg, O’Reilly, & Eddy, P.C. All Rights Reserved.
Virginia Beach Website Design by CDG.

Professional Affiliations

  • National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
  • Virginia State Bar (VSB)
Cleantalk Pixel