Originally Posted by
jkhuggins
Be careful; this type of argument can be used both ways. There are some who would argue that "these people" should be held personally accountable when someone who shouldn't have a security clearance gets one, and later causes a legitimate problem because of that clearance. So, "out of an abundance of caution" (cough), lots of people would be denied clearances who aren't a threat.
Don't get me wrong ... from what the original article says, it sounds like this fellow is entitled to a boatload of compensation. I'm just not sure that individual accountability is necessarily the way to fix this ...
The reason why F-ups like this happen is because there is no personal accountability within the federal government. Employees almost never pay - in any sense whatsoever - for screwing up.
I'm not saying the people responsible need to pay the victim compensation - that would bring government to a halt. What I am saying is that federal employees ought to experience some kind of consequences when they F up.