Employees Fighting Against Background, Drug Checks

A group of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) employees in California may have won at least a temporary victory in their fight against a new federal background check they say violates their constitutional rights.

According to The Associated Press, US District Court Judge Otis Wright says he wants a balance between workers’ rights and national security. So, he plans to temporarily bar the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from asking JPL workers during background checks whether or not they’ve used drugs.

"I don’t want to see the employees hurt... but I want the security of this nation preserved." says Wright. "I don’t want any sleepers infiltrating NASA or JPL."

Judge Wright is expected to issue a written order later this week. He’s already set an October 19 hearing where he’ll decide whether to grant a broader injunction stopping NASA from asking other personal questions.

As ANN reported earlier this year, 28 scientists, engineers and staff at JPL in Pasadena, CA, filed a lawsuit in late August against NASA and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) challenging the new background checks. The plaintiffs are employees of Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA.

The suit claims the checks violate their rights by asking all employees to grant permission for the government to investigate everything from their financial records to medical records -- and even asking them if they’ve ever used drugs. Lawyers for the employees say their clients object to divulging past drug use because they’re worried the information could fall into the wrong hands.

The new background checks were instituted in 2004 after President Bush, in the wake of 9/11, signed an executive order requiring all government agencies to issue new identification badges to millions of civil servants and contractors accessing federal buildings and computers. In order for workers to obtain a new badge, they must be fingerprinted, provide personal information, and sign a waiver allowing for exhaustive investigations.

"There is really no need for this," says attorney Dan Stormer. He says that most of the workers have been at JPL for decades and had their identities verified without exhaustive background checks.

Meanwhile, NASA lawyer Vesper Mei says JPL is not the only agency requiring the background checks and that all federal agencies are being asked to carry out the presidential order.

The AP reports the JPL employees have until Friday, October 5, to authorize the background checks or they’ll be "voluntarily terminated" as of October 27.

FMI: www.jpl.nasa.gov