A federal judge this week dismissed a key component in a racial discrimination lawsuit filed by an African-American woman who says she was unfairly terminated, and subsequently not rehired, by the liquid waste management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
In her order, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs wrote that Adrienne Saulsberry’s rehiring allegation against Savannah River Remediation (SRR) will proceed to trial. However, the claim that her termination in 2013 was also racially motivated has been dismissed. The case was already headed toward jury selection, but a full finding by Childs in favor of summary judgment in the case could have delayed or completely derailed the trial. The order is in response to SRR’s request for dismissal of the entire case via summary judgment.
Saulsberry, a former first-line manager for Savannah River Remediation, is seeking reinstatement, back pay, and payment of her legal fees in her August 2016 lawsuit against the contractor. First-line managers oversee workers and operations in their respective departments.
The suit was filed three years after Saulsberry was terminated during a workforce reduction that was mandated by the U.S. Department of Energy. More than 450 employees were laid off in September 2013, but Saulsberry contended her termination was retaliation by a supervisor after she earlier in the year reported a co-worker for making racially insensitive comments.
Furthermore, Saulsberry said in the lawsuit federal law gives her priority for rehire since she was in good standing with the contractor at the time of her termination. But she was never contacted for an interview after applying for two similar first-line manager jobs in 2014. Those jobs went to a white man and woman who Saulsberry believes were less qualified than she was.
In her Wednesday order, Childs essentially doubled down on recommendations issued in April by Magistrate Judge Paige Gossett. It is common practice for District Court judges to seek a magistrate opinion before making a ruling of their own.
Gossett found no legal basis for Saulsberry’s claims of discrimination when it came to her initial termination, since employees of all backgrounds were let go in the workforce reduction. However, the magistrate took issue with SRR’s deciding not to interview Saulsberry for the subsequent first-line manager openings that became available following the reduction.
Furthermore, Saulsberry had more experience and better evaluation scores than the two white employees who were eventually hired, Gossett found.
Childs concurred, adding that SRR’s response to the report did not even attempt to disagree with various claims made by Saulsberry. For example, one of the employees who was hired for a first-line manager job did not even qualify for extra consideration in the hiring process. The fact that he was hired while Saulsberry did not even garner consideration is troubling, according to Childs.
“Besides bringing arguments relating to pretext, at no point does SRR identify any element of case that Saulsberry has failed to satisfy, but focuses upon whether its various actions are actually discriminatory and unlawful,” the judge wrote.
Jury selection is scheduled for Sept. 5, with trial to follow on Sept. 23-27, in Columbia, S.C.
Savannah River Remediation is responsible for management and treatment of about 35 million gallons of Cold War-era liquid radioactive waste at the DOE facility near the city of Aiken. The contractor is a partnership of AECOM, Bechtel National, CH2M, and BWX Technologies. Since its original eight-year, $5 billion deal ended in June 2017, SRR’s contract has been extended four times. The Energy Department announced in April that it will stay on the job for another 18 months, through September 30, 2020. The new deal is worth roughly $750 million.
