The Fluor-led management contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina said Wednesday in federal court that employees who refuse to comply with a federal order to become vaccinated against COVID-19 can simply seek work elsewhere.
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court to throw out a suit filed by 79 vaccine holdouts among its workforce, initially in state court, a day before an Oct. 15 deadline for unvaccinated employees without an exemption to turn in their badge and gear and prepare for termination by Nov. 30.
Heading into October, SRNS employs roughly 5,500 people and 96% are now vaccinated, according to a contractor spokesperson. Based on those figures, the group of people who could potentially be terminated would be 220.
Attorneys argued that the company is both following a federal requirement set out in an executive order by President Joe Biden and pursuing a prudent policy to protect worker safety during a pandemic.
“SRNS is not forcing Plaintiffs to receive COVID-19 vaccines against their will,” according to the filing. “SRNS adopted a reasonable safety policy for its workforce as a condition of employment.” Like any other workplace rule, those who refuse to follow it “risk their employment.”
The Savannah River Nuclear Solutions filing also cited an earlier federal court ruling in favor of Houston Methodist Hospital which won a decision upholding its right to dismiss staff who refuse to be vaccinated. “Every employment includes limits on the worker’s behavior in exchange for his remuneration,” according to the hospital case ruling. “That is all part of the bargain.”
More broadly, a spokesperson for DOE headquarters defended the agency’s COVID policy in a Thursday morning email to Weapons Complex Monitor.
“DOE continues to focus on our mission of safeguarding national security, and central to that is keeping our workforce healthy and on the job,” the spokesperson said. “The science is crystal clear that the best way to do that is through vaccination. This requirement will not disrupt the critical work we do every day,” the DOE spokesperson went on to say.
The agency spokesperson provided the statement after four Republicans in the House of Representatives wrote Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm a letter asking the DOE boss to examine potential “unintended impacts” of staff losses at the Savannah River Site.
The GOP House members questioned if the job losses will affect “our nation’s nuclear security and readiness. They also inquired about any special plans being made for employees working “exclusively from home” and others nearing retirement age. The letter from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) and Rep. William Timmons IV (R-S.C.). does not ask the DOE or the White House to withdraw the vaccination orders for Savannah River.
Duncan tweeted a copy of the letter.
As for the lawsuit, the plaintiffs in the Savannah River case filed “frivolous claims” accusing the contractor of practicing medicine without a license and violating state public policy, SRNS said in its Wednesday filing, the most recent in the case.
If the plaintiffs want to accuse the contractor of practicing medicine without a license then they should file an action with the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, SRNS said. Secondly, South Carolina does not recognize a general cause of action for violating public policy.
While the state Senate did pass a resolution against employer vaccine mandates, the South Carolina House has not taken up the issue, SRNS said. Also, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) “has issued guidance that the available COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.”
In addition, SRNS notes the plaintiffs do not allege they have actually been terminated.
SRNS Exemptions if Granted, Carry Restrictions, Plaintiff’s Claim
The Savannah River management contractor requires employees seeking a medical exemption from a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination to submit a certified form from their doctor, while those seeking a religious waiver might have to be interviewed and file supporting documents from a minister, according to documents filed by the plaintiffs.
The SRNS documents were distributed to employees prior to last week, when those refusing the vaccines were instructed to turn in their access badges.
Information in employee exemption requests is considered by a committee of SRNS legal, human resources and equal employment opportunity specialists, according to court documents.
Employees who receive the “accommodations” must still be tested for COVID-19 every three days, even if they telecommute, and this could be done at the employee’s personal expense, according to the document. Likewise, workers issued exceptions might not be granted site access.
“Reasonable accommodation will only be provided where there is no undue hardship created for SRNS and where there is no direct threat posed to the health and safety of the individual or others in the work area,” according to the contractor’s document.
Employees who do not receive exemptions and refuse to be vaccinated will be fired and could owe the company for prior payments such as relocation expenses or tuition assistance, according to the document.
DOE’s deputy manager for the Office of Environmental Management at Savannah River Thomas Johnson Jr. told a South Carolina nuclear advisory committee to Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday that job losses at the federal site should be manageable.
Johnson told the advisory board that Savannah River Remediation, the Amentum-led liquid waste contractor for the site, expects to replace 7% of its workforce in the current fiscal year. According to its website, SRR has about 2,600 people and 7% would translate to about 182 people.
Earlier this year, the Savannah River contractors figured attrition rates would be in the 8%-to-11% range, Johnson said. In response to a question from the board, Johnson speculated there are “not as many opportunities out there as folks think” — at least not ones that match the overall benefits at the Savannah River Site, he said.
Of the total 1,056-member workforce at the Savannah River National Laboratory, “only three were not willing to take the vaccine” against the potentially-deadly illness or alternatively, receive exemptions for medical or other reasons, said Vahid Majidi, the lab director for Battelle Savannah River Alliance.
The lab does expect to fill upwards of 300 positions expected to come open within the next three years due to retirements, Majidi said.
Editor’s note: The third paragraph of the story was changed Oct. 25 to reflect current numbers provided by the contractor after deadline for Weapons Complex Monitor.
