Employee Investigations

Federal Government Employee Investigation

Before a federal employee receives a disciplinary action or a security clearance denial, the federal government often conducts an employee investigation. Employees can also be investigated if there are allegations of criminal activity against them.

The lawyers at Mahoney & Jeffrey concentrate their law practice on assisting federal employees. If you are facing an employee conduct investigation, or are being questioned by the Department of Justice (DOJ), contact Mahoney & Jeffrey at 202.312.7100 for a rational approach to your legal issues.

Your Right to Remain Silent, Does It Apply?

Often, in the midst of an investigation, federal agents will provide the target employee with Garrity/Kalkines or Miranda warnings during an interview. Miranda warnings, used in a criminal investigation, guarantee your right to remain silent, but warn you that what you say may be used against you in a criminal prosecution. They also guarantee you the right to have an attorney present during the investigation interview.

If the investigation does not involve a criminal allegation, but administrative employee misconduct instead, the government should provide the subject employee with a Garrity/Kalkines warning. The Garrity/Kalkines warning is the exact opposite of Miranda. It states that you must answer the investigators’ questions truthfully, but are immune from criminal prosecution based upon your answers, unless you do not tell the truth. In an administrative investigation under Garrity/Kalkines, you may not have the right to have an attorney present, but usually the federal government will allow an employee to be accompanied by an attorney.

If the investigators conclude that there was employee misconduct in an administrative investigation, the government cannot bring criminal charges based upon the employee’s compelled answers. However, they can discipline that employee by demotion, unpaid suspension, or removal.

Contact Mahoney & Jeffrey today at 202-312-7100 for an initial consultation with an attorney regarding federal government employee misconduct investigations.

Mahoney & Jeffrey serves clients wherever the federal government has employees, including civilian, military and diplomatic installations across the United States and worldwide in places such as North America, Asia, South and Central America, Africa, Japan, Germany, Italy, France and the entire European Union.