A divided Washington state appeals court this week reversed an $8.1 million award issued in the wrongful discharge lawsuit brought by a former employee of a major contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site.
“We agree that the trial court committed reversible error, reverse the judgment on the jury’s verdict, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” according to the 66-page ruling Tuesday that upended the 2017 jury award to onetime Mission Support Alliance employee Julie Atwood.
It was a two-to-one decision returned by a panel of judges for Division III of the state Court of Appeals. The case will now go back to Benton County for a new trial.
In his dissent, Judge Robert Lawrence-Berrey agreed with the majority’s conclusion on the need for a new trial on the amount of damages, but disagreed other court errors were enough to reverse key elements of Atwood’s case. The plaintiff relied heavily on showing that other Mission Support Alliance employees, mostly male, committed more serious transgressions but were not terminated.
The appeals court heard arguments in January on the award resulting from the wrongful discharge and gender discrimination case brought by Atwood against MSA and former vice president Steve Young, who died in May 2019. The panel ruled the Benton County trial court made a mistake by allowing Atwood to introduce evidence comparing her treatment with four other employees in different situations than the plaintiff.
The court said the four employees identified in the lawsuit did not have enough in common with Atwood to provide a true comparison under Washington state law. A proper comparison in this case would be a male at-will employee in a position similar to that of a portfolio project manager, the job held by Atwood, “against whom action was taken for failing to be on site, available and locatable during working hours,” the court held.
At the conclusion of trial, the jurors returned unanimous verdicts finding the discrimination and retaliation alleged by Atwood. The jury awarded Atwood $2.1 million in economic damages and $6 million in emotional distress damages.
The appeals court also agreed with the company that the damage award was too high.
Atwood was 58 years old at the time she was forced out, and 62 at the time of trial. Her expert, relying on Atwood’s intention to work at MSA until age 70, testified to economic damages of $2.1 million. Company attorneys argued Atwood has a history of changing jobs every few years, and even if she stayed at MSA was more likely to retire by age 66 based on statistics.
Atwood was hired to as a project manager in the portfolio management division in February 2010. Her job offer letter said she was an employee at will and could be let go at any time and without notice. She received a termination letter on Sept. 19, 2013, in which the company accused her of failing to follow management orders and not complying with an MSA code of conduct.
Atwood refused to sign the termination letter and signed a resignation letter instead.
Atwood filed suit in 2015. The plaintiff said she had been cleared in an internal investigation into time-card fraud, but was still fired, according to the lawsuit.
The Atwood suit said MSA management, including Young, who joined the company and put in charge of portfolio management in 2012, encouraged a “boys club” atmosphere and spawned a hostile work atmosphere.
Mission Support Alliance claims Atwood would sometimes be late or absent, and at one point took a two-week absence from work for an international trip without informing her employer in advance.
Mission Support Alliance, once headed by Lockheed Martin, is now comprised of Leidos and Centerra Group. In December, the Energy Department named another Leidos-led joint venture as the winner of a new potential 10-year, $4 billion site support services contract at Hanford.
