Badge Swipes and Security Video Footage Sinks DOE Contractor

A Department of Energy (DOE) contractor had her access eligibility revoked for a number of security violations, personal conduct issues and timecard fraud. Multiple co-workers refused to work with her because of her aggressive behavior, and she was investigated at one point as an insider threat. She subsequently appealed the clearance revocation to the DOE Office of Hearing and Appeals. Here are the highlights of the case.

The contractor had held a security clearance since 2012, therefore, was quite familiar with security protocols and processes. In 2023 she was issued a letter of counseling for repeated violations of using her cellphone in restricted areas. In 2024, due to concerns with her negative behaviors and emotional outbursts, security personnel opened an insider threat inquiry into her. That inquiry led to another investigation into her time and attendance, which determined she had falsely claimed 20 hours of overtime for which she did not work. This was confirmed by looking at badge swipe data and security camera footage. A month later, when she was supposed to be escorting uncleared contractors in a restricted area, she instead left them alone for 35 minutes while she chatted with other security guards at their post.

At her appeal hearing she maintained that she did not falsify her timecard, that she had only left the uncleared contractors for a few minutes because she was multi-tasking, and that she was only reacting aggressively in response to the way other co-workers were behaving towards her. All in all, she didn’t think she was the problem and that she would make sure to follow all security protocols in the future. Needless to say, the judge did not find her testimony credible, and the fact she still denied timecard fraud despite evidence to the contrary showed her honesty and trustworthiness were still in question – clearance eligibility denied.