Warrensville Heights, Ohio-- Representative Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) will meet with members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3283 to discuss security clearance policies that have led to terminations and suspensions at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS).    Since 2005, those policies have led to 67 employees either losing their jobs, facing termination or indefinite suspensions at the Cleveland DFAS center for reasons such as low personal credit scores.

The meeting will take place April 23, 2010 at 6pm at the Cleveland AFL-CIO headquarters, 3250 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. DFAS national and Cleveland leadership and other members of Congress who have DFAS facilities in their districts as well as the Ohio delegation have also been invited to attend.

Rep. Fudge is concerned that honest, hard working employees with up to 20 years of dedicated service have not received fair consideration to retain their jobs due to a policy that places an unnecessary burden on them.

 "No doubt Bernie Madoff  had a sterling credit score before his crimes were revealed.  And yet, there's an assumption that employees who in this troubled economy fall behind on bills are less trustworthy.  No research has yet shown a strong link between a person's credit report and their job performance.  Poorly justified dismissals needlessly and inappropriately push more families into the ranks of the unemployed, an outcome individuals and our nation as a whole can ill afford." 

A bipartisan delegation of Representatives and Senators from Northeast Ohio has supported Rep. Fudge's letter to President Obama, seeking a review of DFAS procedures and regulations.

Background

On March 22, 2010, Rep. Fudge spoke with DFAS Director Teresa McKay to request more information on the policy that includes consideration of an employee's credit score
That same day, Rep. Fudge sent a letter calling for greater transparency of DFAS' relevant policies.

On March 23, 2010, Rep. Fudge joined her colleagues Representatives, Dennis Kucinich, Betty Sutton and Steve LaTourette in calling for these terminations to be suspended.

March 31, 2010, The Department of Defense and DFAS announced the terminations would be suspended and an in-depth review of the employees' cases would be conducted.  Later that day, however, Members of Congress learned that those same workers would be suspended without pay while the review is conducted.

On April 1, 2010, Director McKay responded to Rep. Fudge's letter dated March 22nd, 2010. With no changes in policy or procedure indicated to prevent the pending suspensions, Rep. Fudge wrote to President Barack Obama, requesting that DFAS employees be reinstated or given paid leave while their files are reviewed.  The letter was co-signed by Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown, George Voinovich and Representatives Kucinich, Sutton and LaTourette.

In 2009, Rep. Fudge was instrumental in reinstating two DFAS employees who are her constituents, before there was a general awareness that the credit policy impacted a large number of people.

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