Reading Room Document

Use of Polygraph Examinations in Investigating Disclosure of Information About Pending Criminal Investigations

The Attorney General may order Justice Department employees to submit to polygraph tests to answer questions relating to pending criminal investigations, and may discharge an employee for refusing to take such a test. Even where an employee is entitled to be discharged only "for cause," failure to cooperate with an official investigation by taking a polygraph test may constitute adequate cause, as long as the employee is given reasonable assurances respecting the need for the test and the use to which its results may be put. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/22496/download.

February 22, 1980