A Virginia company with offices in Butler County that contracts with the federal government to conduct background and security checks sued three former employees Friday and accused one of them of taking confidential military documents.
US Investigations Services filed the 32-page lawsuit in federal court in Pittsburgh against Susan Callihan of Chicora, Butler County, Sarah Baucom of Parker, Armstrong County, and Sharon Vernick of Butler, saying they took proprietary information to competitors.
The company claims the three used information or documents from US Investigations Services to help new employers secure a business contract with the federal government, according to the lawsuit.
Among the claims are that Callihan, who had a Top Secret federal security clearance, e-mailed to her personal address a "highly confidential" military operations manual along with Excel spreadsheets that contained "detailed proprietary information" including names of people being investigated and their military branch, according to the lawsuit.
Reached by phone at her home, Callihan declined to comment.
Callihan's actions forced the company to report a security breach to the government, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit does not say what the military operations manual contained, and the attorney who filed the suit, Mark Willard, said he couldn't elaborate.
Baucom, who also had a Top Secret clearance, is accused of downloading a confidential contract bid. Vernick is accused of helping the other two women "in connection with their wrongful misappropriation" of USIS information, according to the lawsuit.
Baucom could not be reached for comment. Vernick denied the allegations.
