A lawsuit claiming the Savannah River Site’s security contractor discriminated against a former employee should be dismissed because it was filed past the time allowed under the statute of limitations, a federal magistrate judge recommended.
Judge Paige Gossett also noted on Jan. 30 that Marcialena Brown’s $3.5 million complaint covers both Centerra-SRS and two company employees. But suing employees is not permissible in a Title VII case, in which a worker alleges discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or retaliation, Gossett wrote in her report.
In her filing, Gossett sided with Centerra’s motion for judgment on the pleadings from Brown.
The case is being overseen by District Judge Sherri Lydon, who requested Gossett’s opinion on the matter. It is unclear why she wanted outside input, but opinions from magistrate courts are often sought in discrimination cases.
Brown, who is African-American, filed the lawsuit on July 22, 2019, citing events that began on May 2, 2015. While employed by Centerra as a security officer at the DOE facility in South Carolina, Brown left her M4 rifle in a women’s bathroom on site unattended for five minutes, the lawsuit says. About three weeks later, she was fired after 16 years with the company. In that process, Brown alleges Centerra did not follow its own disciplinary procedures, though she did not explain exactly what those procedures involve.
More than three years later, in September 2018, a white female employee left her Glock 40 handgun in a bathroom unattended, according to the lawsuit. Brown said she learned of the incident in November 2018 and learned the employee was only issued a written warning. “I felt that the Company’s decision was unfair and discriminatory,” she wrote in the suit, in which she is representing herself.
Brown is seeking $3 million in compensatory damages, including for unfair dismissal, distress, and mental suffering. Her lawsuit also requests $500,000 in punitive damages.
Centerra denied the claims and filed its motion on Nov. 12 based on two principles: that the statute of limitations had run out, and that its employees cannot be sued under Title VII.
In her report, Gossett said a Title VII complaint must be filed within 300 days of the alleged action. Brown filed her suit more than four years after the fact. Meanwhile, regarding naming of employees as defendants, “Title VII does not provide for individual liability,” Gossett stated.
Each party has 14 days to object to Gossett’s report. It is unclear if either will do so.
It is unclear how Gossett’s report will impact a scheduling order for the case that was submitted on Nov. 12. The order states that Brown must submit a list of potential trial witnesses and their contact information by March 11, 2020, and that Centerra must do the same by April 10.
By June 9, both parties must complete discovery, the fact-finding phase for trial. Mediation, the final time chance for the parties to reach a settlement before trial, is scheduled for Aug. 24. A date for trial has not been set.
Centerra-SRS is a subsidiary of Florida-based Centerra. The company provides security support services for the 310-square-mile Savannah River Site, near Aiken, S.C. Centerra’s services include access control, property protection, law enforcement, criminal investigations, and traffic control.
The company’s 10-year, $990 million contract expired on Oct. 7, 2019. Three days prior, it inked a four-month, $35.8 million extension, keeping the company on the job through Feb. 7, 2020. Centerra could remain at SRS another eight months past the extension, via two additional four-month options. It is unclear if the value of those options is the same as the $35.8 million for the first extension. The company has confirmed it bid on the follow-on contract for Savannah River site security
