A plaintiff who claims false statements by the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico led to the breakup of his marriage served legal papers on the government defendant, he told a federal court last week.
After being warned by U.S. District Court Judge Steven Yarbrough that the case would be dismissed unless the defendant is served, plaintiff William Gardner said in a July 17 filing that he has served the summons on Sandia. Garnder is representing himself.
On July 11, Judge Yarbrough issued his second order to Gardner in federal court in New Mexico saying Sandia National Laboratory needs to be properly filed with a summons and a copy of the complaint.
Gardner filed his complaint in March alleging DOE’s Sandia lab falsely accused him of criminal activity when his then-wife, an employee for Sandia in Albuquerque, was seeking a promotion that required a security clearance.
In turning down Katherine Gardner’s security clearance, William Gardner said DOE sent his wife a letter including false and defamatory statements about William Gardner. William Garnder claims the defamatory statements in the DOE letter led to a divorce and ended the Gardners 28-year marriage.
