Civil Service Board Rejects Employee’s Fifth Amendment Defense

A former IRS worker wasn’t allowed to invoke her constitutional right to remain silent because she lacked a concrete belief she might be prosecuted otherwise, the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled in a precedential decision.

The two sitting members of the board ruled that Michelle Shows, an IRS employee, wasn’t shielded from answering questions without the “reasonable belief” that she might be criminally targeted. The failure to tell an employee they won’t be prosecuted in exchange for cooperation doesn’t mean workers cannot be disciplined, the board said.

The decision could make it harder for federal employees to defend refusing to ...