The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear a case regarding whether a federal contractor’s employees in “low risk” positions can be required to undergo extensive background checks.
The case involves workers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is located on federally owned land but is operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) pursuant to a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
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In 2007, NASA amended its contract with Caltech to require that every employee at the lab undergo a National Agency Check with Inquiries, the same background investigation required of government civil service employees.
During the investigation, each of the applicants’ references, employers, and landlords is sent an “Investigative Request for Personal Information” that asks whether the recipient has “any reason to question [the applicant’s] honesty or trustworthiness” or has “any adverse information about [the applicant’s] employment, residence, or activities” concerning “violations of law,” “financial integrity,” “abuse of alcohol and/or drugs,” “mental or emotional stability,” “general behavior or conduct,” or “other matters.”
Under the new policy, the employees were required to clear the background check in order to gain admittance to the lab. Caltech took it a step further, stating that employees who failed to clear the background check would be considered to have voluntarily resigned.
The lab’s employees objected to the background check. They argued that since they are in low-risk positions (that is, they have no access to classified information), the background checks are an invasion into their “informational privacy” under the U.S. Constitution.
We’ll have more information on this case as it develops; stay tuned for details.
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