Livermore Age Discrimination Lawsuit Mediation Ongoing This Week
NS&D Monitor
4/10/2015
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory officials and lawyers for 130 workers laid off from the lab in 2008 ended an initial mediation session this week without a settlement in the long-running case. A third trial involving a new subset of the employees—10 scientists and engineers that claim they were the victims of age discrimination and breach of contract—has been delayed until October to give time for the sides to meet with a mediator, and the two parties met April 8 in San Francisco with mediator David Rotman. After not reaching a deal, the two parties were scheduled to meet again April 10.
Rotman oversaw unsuccessful talks between the sides three years ago, but that was before the first two trials. An Alameda County jury found in favor of a group of five former employees in a breach of contract case in early 2013, awarding the former employees $2.7 million, but a separate jury rejected the same employees’ claims of age discrimination in connection to their layoffs last year. Both sides have appealed the decisions.
The employees are part of a group of 130 workers suing the lab over the 2008 layoff of a total of 440 lab employees. Gary Gwilliam, an attorney for the plaintiffs, declined to specify how much the workers are seeking in the settlement negotiations and it’s unclear how much the lab would agree to. Based on the jury decision to award the first five plaintiffs $2.7 million for lost wages and economic loss, with interest the average award per employee could be about $600,000—or a total settlement of around $78 million.
