A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 17 to addressing scheduling and other matters in a former employee’s discrimination lawsuit against the liquid waste manager at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The hope is to expedite progress in the case filed more than two years ago, according to Magistrate Judge Paige Gossett.
In a scheduling order, Gossett said the hearing at U.S. District Court in Columbia, S.C., will enable lawyers for Adrienne Saulsberry and Savannah River Remediation (SRR) to “discuss matters related to scheduling and any other topics which may aid in the efficient progression of this case.”
Saulsberry, an African-American woman who had worked at the Savannah River Site since 1990, and as a radiological first line manager since 2008, filed suit in August 2016 against SRR, a partnership of AECOM, Bechtel National, CH2M, and BWX Technologies. She alleged she was terminated in September 2013 after confirming to management the prior spring that a white employee had made racially motivated comments. According to Saulsberry, that employee was a friend of one of her managers, who helped initiate her firing. She is seeking reinstatement, back pay, and payment of her legal fees by SRR.
Savannah River Remediation has consistently denied her assertions, saying Saulsberry’s termination was part of a planned reduction in workforce. The contractor said her dismissal was based on a fair scoring of employees and the three other first-line managers let go at that time were white.
Savannah River Remediation asked on Sept. 14 that the case be dismissed. Saulsberry’s lawyers initially had until Sept. 28 to respond, but asked for more time because they are still reading through more than 1,000 pages of documents provided by the company. Those documents, which include affidavits and information pertaining to the pending trial, were delivered sporadically, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 11. Saulsberry team says it needs more time to go through them.
Gossett on Tuesday ruled in favor of Saulsberry, suspending the deadline for the response indefinitely. In all likelihood, the new deadline will be after the Oct. 17 hearing.
