The DoD Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) conducted this investigation in response to a reprisal complaint alleging that (the Subject), U.S. Navy, Fort Meade, Maryland, took an action affecting the eligibility for access to classified information against (the Complainant), U.S. Navy, in reprisal for the Complainant making protected disclosures.
The Complainant alleged that he made one protected disclosure on October 28, 2020, to the Subject during a meeting in which he reported that the Subject inaccurately represented a mission‑readiness status to the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command (10th Fleet) and that the Subject retaliated against him for making that disclosure. During our investigation, we found that the Complainant made additional disclosures on January 19 and February 5, 2021, accusing the Subject of abuse of authority. After the Complainant made these protected disclosures, the Subject took one action affecting the Complainant’s eligibility for access to classified information when the Subject recommended that the DoD Consolidated Adjudications Facility (DoD CAF) revoke the Complainant’s security clearance eligibility.
Based on a preponderance of the evidence, we determined that the Complainant made two protected disclosures and that the protected disclosures were contributing factors in the action taken against the Complainant. Therefore, we concluded that the Complainant established a prima facie allegation of reprisal against the Subject in the first stage of our analysis.