Staff Reports
WC Monitor
8/28/2015
Hanford Site services contractor Mission Support Alliance has been sued by a former senior project manager for alleged retaliation, discrimination, and wrongful termination. The lawsuit, filed by Julie Atwood in Benton County Superior Court late last week, also names Steve Young, the MSA vice president of portfolio management and mayor of Kennewick, and David Ruscitto, the former MSA chief operating officer.
Atwood received strong performance reviews for her work in regulatory compliance at Hanford over three decades, most recently as MSA project manager of environmental regulatory and waste management, according to the lawsuit. Her problems started when an anonymous complaint was sent to human resource officials alleging Young was creating a hostile work environment, according to the lawsuit.
Young called a meeting of lead portfolio management employees to discuss the complaint against him soon after it was received in early September 2013. He excluded Atwood, whom he supervised, the lawsuit claims. The suit says Young told a human resources official that he believed Atwood was behind the complaint. Atwood accused Ruscitto, who retired earlier this year, of telling a DOE Richland Operations Office official that she was being investigated for time card fraud before the investigation had started. Contractors typically do not share internal personnel investigations with DOE before such probes are conducted and completed, according to the lawsuit. On Sept. 12, three days after Atwood believes Ruscitto said she was under investigation, an employee concerns specialist and a human resources specialist were instructed by higher-level MSA officials in their departments to launch a joint review of Young and Atwood, the lawsuit says. One of the two employees earlier had been told to halt the probe of Young hours after first talking to the executive about the complaint against him, according to the lawsuit. The investigator had said then the company could face potential liability if the case was suspended.
During the same time period, Young instructed another employee to document Atwood’s attendance at work without her knowledge, the lawsuit claims. Atwood spent much of her time out of her office in meetings with DOE employees and contractors, which were recorded in her electronic calendar, said her attorney, Jack Sheridan. Sheridan said Atwood did not write the anonymous complaint sent to human resource officials, but when she was interviewed about Young during the investigation she gave examples of what she considered to be his disparate treatment of women. She also alleged that Young frequently conducted city of Kennewick business on MSA time, including using MSA staff to perform city work and writing city speeches during business hours, according to the lawsuit.
Investigators were told to finish their review of Atwood and Young by Sept. 18, six days after they were told to start investigating Atwood, according to the lawsuit. A day before the deadline, the investigators met with MSA officials who had ordered the joint look at Young and Atwood. One of the investigators said that they were not finding evidence of time card fraud and that she hoped the probe of Atwood was not a “smokescreen” to deflect attention from something else going on at MSA, the lawsuit says. The next day, after answering more questions, Atwood was told by an investigator that no issues had been found with her time card; the investigator also reported her findings to upper management by phone from Atwood’s office. Within minutes Atwood was told to report to upper management. There she was told she was being terminated for misconduct, but could save her pension and health insurance benefits if she signed a termination letter. She was escorted from her office by an MSA attorney, making several trips pushing her belongings in a wheelchair because no hand truck was available, the lawsuit claims.
Atwood accuses the defendants of blacklisting her as she applies for other Hanford work.
“The facts alleged in Ms. Atwood’s complaint are some of the most egregious examples of retaliation I’ve ever seen,” Sheridan said. “I guess Hanford contractors haven’t learned their lesson yet.” He represented Hanford whistleblower Walter Tamosaitis, who settled a claim for $4.1 million earlier this month, and 11 Hanford pipefitters who were awarded $4.8 million by a jury in 2005 in another whistleblower case. Atwood is seeking lost pay and benefits and compensation for emotional distress and damage to her reputation. The lawsuit accuses Young and Ruscitto of intentional supervision discrimination against Atwood or of aiding or encouraging discrimination against her. MSA is accused of wrongful discharge and intentional discrimination. MSA declined to comment on the lawsuit. Young did not respond to a request for comment and Ruscitto could not be reached.
