KEYWORD: Guideline F
DIGEST: Applicant’s brief fails to establish the Judge committed any harmful error. Adverse
decision affirmed.
CASENO: 17-00731.a1
DATE: 08/21/2018
DATE: August 21, 2018
In Re:
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Applicant for Public Trust Position
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ADP Case No. 17-00731
APPEAL BOARD DECISION
APPEARANCES
FOR GOVERNMENT
James B. Norman, Esq., Chief Department Counsel
FOR APPLICANT
Pro se
The Department of Defense (DoD) declined to grant Applicant a trustworthiness designation. 
On June 15, 2017, DoD issued a statement of reasons (SOR) advising Applicant of the basis for that
decision–trustworthiness concerns raised under Guideline F (Financial Considerations) of
Department of Defense Directive 5220.6 (Jan. 2, 1992, as amended) (Directive).  Applicant
requested a hearing.  On June 15, 2018, after the hearing, Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals
(DOHA) Administrative Judge Juan J. Rivera denied Applicant’s request for a trustworthiness
designation.  Applicant appealed pursuant to Directive ¶¶ E3.1.28 and E3.1.30.
The SOR alleged that Applicant failed to file her Federal tax returns for 2013 and 2014 as
required and that she had four delinquent debts.  The Judge found against Applicant on the tax filing
deficiencies and in her favor on the delinquent debts.  At the hearing, “[w]hen asked whether she
had filed her 2015 and 2016 income tax returns, Applicant stated: ‘I’m going to say yes.  They
should have been.  I don’t know.’”  Decision at 3.  She acknowledged that she had no excuse for her
tax filing deficiencies.  The Judge noted that Applicant’s husband was diagnosed with a serious
illness around the time she received the SOR and later passed away.  The Judge left the record open
after the hearing for Applicant to submit proof that she filed her 2013 through 2016 income tax
returns.  She submitted the second pages for two IRS Form 1040s that were unsigned and undated. 
Based on Applicant’s statements, the Judge concluded she filed her 2014 and 2016 income taxes in
April 2018 but still had not filed her 2013 and 2015 income tax returns. 
In her appeal brief, Applicant asks that the Judge’s decision be overturned.  In claiming the
decision is unfair, she discusses three of the alleged delinquent debts.  These assignments of error
warrant no relief because the Judge found in Applicant’s favor on those debts.  In her brief, she also
states: “Although I cannot enter into evidence, the 2013 and 2014 tax returns will be filed and paid
by 31 July 2018.”  
Applicant’s brief fails to establish the Judge committed any harmful error.  The Judge
examined the relevant evidence and articulated a satisfactory explanation for the decision.  The
decision is sustainable on this record.  The standard applicable to trustworthiness cases is that set
forth in Department of the Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518, 528 (1988) regarding security clearances:
such a determination “. . . may be granted only when ‘clearly consistent with the interests of the
national security.’”   See, e.g., ADP Case No. 12-09387 at 2 (App. Bd. Apr. 26 2016).  See also
Kaplan v. Conyers, 733 F.3d 1148 (Fed. Cir. 2013), cert. denied.
Order
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The Decision is AFFIRMED.  
Signed: Michael Ra’anan        
Michael Ra’anan
Administrative Judge
Chairperson, Appeal Board
Signed: Charles C. Hale          
Charles C. Hale
Administrative Judge
Member, Appeal Board
Signed: James F. Duffy           
James F. Duffy
Administrative Judge
Member, Appeal Board
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