A relatively new federal district judge in South Carolina will preside over an employment discrimination case against the Department of Energy’s management prime for the Savannah River Site.
U.S. District Judge Jacquelyn Austin will hear the job discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Fluor-led Savannah River Nuclear Solutions filed this spring by a former employee, a black female, who contends she was wrongly passed over for promotion in favor of white male workers.
Austin was appointed by the U.S. District Court of South Carolina June 20 to hear the case initially filed in state court by Alisha Johnson. Judge Austin, one of President Joe Biden’s appointees, was confirmed by the Senate to the federal judiciary in January. The case was initially assigned to U.S. District Judge Sherri Lydon.
Plaintiff Johnson, a longtime Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) employee, was, according to her complaint, terminated in March 2023 after using a work computer to file loan application paperwork. Johnson said she did not know at the time it was forbidden by policy and says the firing came after she complained of being passed over, and of co-workers using racial slurs.
Johnson contends the firing was retaliatory.
The plaintiff started working at the Savannah River Site in August in 1998, after serving in the U.S. Navy, according to her complaint. In October 2016, Johnson began working in the maintenance department as an engineering specialist, also known as a work window manager.
In June 2022, openings for better SRNS positions as lead planner and spot manager became available, according to the Johnson filing. As the “most senior work window manager,” Johnson said it was reasonable for her to expect a promotion into one of the two vacant positions. In both instances a white male was promoted instead, one of them with considerably less experience, according to the plaintiff.
Johnson complained to SRNS managers, who said the promotions were handled “incorrectly,” according to the complaint. The contractor managers declined, however, to transfer Johnson to a different section despite her claims that some of her co-workers were using racial slurs in her presence.
Johnson was ultimately fired by SRNS in November 2022 after acknowledging she used a work computer to file paperwork for a loan, saying she didn’t realize it was against policy.
The case was initially filed by Johnson in state court and in April SRNS had the dispute moved to federal district court.
Discovery in the case is scheduled for completion Nov. 22 and any mediation efforts prior to trial should be finished by Jan. 31, 2025, according to court filings.
