CLEVELAND — Two congress members and one senator are taking up the cause of 62 DFAS workers being fired for bad credit ratings. A noted civil and worker rights lawyer thinks they would have a good chance to regain their jobs if they sue.

Regina Hairston worked at DFAS 13 years. She says her job duties consisted mainly of filing checks.

Regina was dismissed from her job after the agency decided her indebtedness made her a security risk.

In subsequent hearings, the agency claimed she did not supply complete information. “It was a slap in the face.  My job and personal finances never intertwine…one has nothing to do with the other,” she said.

Regina now claims to owe about $20,000 to five or six creditors for things including medical bills andhome improvements.

Noted civil rights attorney Avery Friedman thinks workers would have a strong case in a lawsuit.

He said the government would have to show a judge that a certain amount of indebtedness transforms a good-performing worker into a security risk.

“These are not people involved in sophisticated defense issues. They process payroll,” he said.

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge had a Monday conference call with the DFAS director. A spokeswoman said it was unproductive.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich said, “I’m outraged. If DFAS persists in this, I’m going to subpoena credit records of DFAS brass to see if they meet their own standard.”

Senator Sherrod Brown said, “I’m concerned valuable workers are being let go, particularly in the current economic environment.  I understand security clearances must not be granted or reviewed lightly, but to summarily dismiss hardworking, dedicated employees needlessly and inappropriately pushes more families into the ranks of the unemployed…I’m going to contact the Department of Defense and request an investigation.”

How much indebtedness triggers firing? What is the sensitive information handled by a military payroll office?  How much weight is given to employees’ prior work record? These are all questions we hoped to answer.

The Cleveland DFAS spokesperson was off Monday. The National DFAS communications director referred all questions to the Pentagon.  A contact there — spoke on Friday — said it would take more time to provide answers did not return a Monday call.