Scientists sue over background checks - August 31, 2007
Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which spearheads NASA’s planetary research, are suing the space agency and their employer CalTech over security checks into their health, mental state and sexual histories. The Nation says the new security checks are “puzzling” because scientists at the lab have “little or no” involvement in secret research. As the LA Times reports, NASA labs have been told to issue new badges, requiring employees to authorise access to personal information. The Times also says NASA’s administrator Michael Griffin is not for turning: “We will miss those folks [who refuse checks] ...That is their choice.”
“This is something straight out of the 1950’s McCarthy era. The ‘suitability criteria’ are so broad that investigators could use them to get rid of anyone they want,” said Dennis Byrnes, Chief Engineer for Flight Dynamics at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (press release).
JPL is run for NASA by Caltech and the New York Times says more than 5,000 employees at the lab are not government employees but work for the university or other contractors, although all are subject to the checks. AP says a request for an injunction blocking the checks will be heard in the California district court on 24 September and, rather terrifyingly, those who won’t agree to them will be “voluntarily terminated” on 27 October. NASA’s page on the hspd12 security checks says “successful intrusions” dropped 46% after introduction of the cards at the Department of Defense. Wired has a nice take on the issue.
Comments
Hello,
Background checks are organized methods of investigation,where the company follows a particular course of action by conducting a research work as par requirement disregarding additional unnecessary details.
Posted by: William | September 11, 2007 09:00 AM
Hi,
This is provided by the investigator can be verified by the data provided by the applicant.
One of the most utilized types of background checks is the criminal background vestigation.It is vital for the safety and security of both the business and those served that employers perform a thorough investigation of each employee.For instance, a record concerning money may not make you a likely candidate for a financial position in the firm
background checks
Posted by: charmy | September 24, 2007 08:33 AM
Federal Appeals Court for the 9th Circuit ruled in January that the investigations are indeed overly intrusive and have no legal foundation. The case is making its way through the legal system, but there is an injunction in place, and the investigations have stopped.
You can follow the legal case and related developments at http://hspd12jpl.org
Posted by: No to JPL Background Checks | March 28, 2008 02:53 AM