UNION SUES WRPS OVER TERMINATED EMPLOYEES
The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council is suing Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions over what the union alleges is the unfair termination of four employees last year. In its lawsuit, filed Jan. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, HAMTC accuses WRPS of terminating four employees—Darin Judy, Doug Mallory, Rhonda Stamper and Tom Huebner—in violation of a collective bargaining agreement. According to the union, under the collective bargaining agreement, the four employees “would receive written disciplinary warnings for alleged misconduct related to an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General” and that those written warnings “‘will be the last action concerning the … employees related to this issue.’” In “direct breech” of the collective bargaining agreement, the HAMTC suit says, “All four were discharged for the identical alleged misconduct subsumed within the January 2009 CBA [collective bargaining agreement] arising out of an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General.”
While the lawsuit does not say what “misconduct” the four employees were accused of, all four have plead guilty to charges of time card fraud that occurred under former tank farms contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group. HAMTC is seeking “a full, make-whole remedy including reinstatement with full back pay and benefits,” as well as for WRPS to pay attorney fees; or to have the contractor submit to arbitration as to whether the termination of the four employees violated collective bargaining agreements, according to the union’s lawsuit. HAMTC declined to comment on the suit this week. In a brief written response, WRPS spokesman Jerry Holloway said, “WRPS will review the HAMTC complaint and provide its response to the court as required. No additional comment will be provided at this time.”
