Hanford Whistleblower Case To Be Heard Starting Today

A whistleblower case involving an electronic medical records system at Hanford will be held by a Department of Labor administrative law judge Tuesday through Thursday at the Benton County courthouse near Hanford. Information technology professionals Kirt Clem and Matthew Spencer were removed from their jobs by Computer Sciences Corp., or CSC, after they reported the electronic medical system was not working correctly in August 2012. The issue created a potential risk for tracking medical restrictions, including those that keep workers at risk of chronic beryllium disease out of areas contaminated with the metal. CSC was in charge of implementing the system when it held the Hanford occupational medicine contract and now it is a subcontractor to HPMC Occupational Medical Services, which runs the Hanford medical clinic.

 

In late 2014 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered CSC to pay the laid off workers back wages of $186,000. CSC appealed, leading to the hearing this week. In September the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement announced plans to investigate allegations that Hanford workers were put at risk because of a defective electronic medical record system. Hanford Challenge, which is representing the information technology workers, on Monday released a May 2013 assessment report of the DOE Richland Operations Office Employee Concerns Program. All employees interviewed for the report were highly critical of the system and called , broken, inefficient, unsound, dysfunctional and unsecure.