Barring settlement, a federal racial discrimination lawsuit brought by a security officer against the Department of Energy contractor running the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., would go to trial early next year.
In an order last month, U.S. District Judge James Browning scheduled a trial starting Jan. 9, 2023 in litigation brought by Eddie Thomas against Nuclear Waste Partnership, a joint venture of Amentum and BWX Technologies.
Discovery in the case and pretrial motions should be complete by Oct. 31. A motions hearing will then follow on Nov. 30 and a pretrial conference on Dec. 28, according to the scheduling order signed Feb. 25.
The plaintiff, Thomas of Lea County, N.M., is the only African American in the security division at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), according to court documents. He claims he was bypassed for a promotion to lieutenant in May 2020 because of his race. In his pleadings, Thomas said he was not granted an interview for the lieutenant post even though he has 12 years prior experience working in security at DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, where he served on the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team.
For its part, the Amentum-led contractor team has said in documents filed with the U.S. District Court for New Mexico that Thomas could not be hired for the lieutenant position because he lacked the required level of security clearance. Nuclear Waste Partnership also said Thomas has passed up other internal promotional opportunities since the lieutenant position came open.
Nuclear Waste Partnership said Thursday via email it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
