A group of plaintiffs who claim they were wrongly fired by the Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup contractor at the Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee after seeking religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination, are trying mediation to settle their lawsuit.
The sides should know this week whether a settlement is in the cards, court papers show.
Federal Magistrate Judge Debra Poplin last week stayed the case brought in February by a group of 21 plaintiffs, led by Nathan Larue, until June 14. The litigation is one of multiple lawsuits filed against Amentum-led United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) over COVID vaccination requirements.
The parties have started talks and made significant progress, lawyers for both sides said in a joint filing May 13.
The parties expect “they will know within 7-10 days whether they will be able to resolve the case,” according to Poplin’s May 14 order.
Earlier, the plaintiffs in the current case tried unsuccessfully to become participants in another ongoing COVID suit brought by Carlton Speer, Malena Dennis, and Zachariah Duncan, who were also fired by UCOR after refusing COVID shots.
