Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
8/22/2014
In response to a whistleblower complaint, the U.S. Labor Department has ordered Hanford tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solutions to reinstate former employee Shelly Doss and provide back pay and compensatory damages. Doss filed the complaint after she was laid off in October 2011, claiming that her dismissal was in retaliation for reporting permit violations, recordkeeping errors, and lack of adherence to regulations. “It appears that Respondent was not serious about settling the first whistleblower complaint and treated Complainant’s protected activities with a callous disregard when her employment was terminated and when she was denied a subsequent employment opportunity,” states the Labor Department preliminary order. “There is reasonable cause to believe that Complainant’s protected activities were a motivating and contributing factor in the adverse actions taken against her.”
Doss, a former environmental specialist, also claimed that before being terminated her job duties were reduced, she was denied training and isolated from management. She also said that she was “blacklisted,” when she applied for an environmental specialist job opening with WRPS in May 2012 and was not selected or called for an interview despite being qualified for the position. “Respondent’s defense that Complainant was laid off for legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons is not credible. Respondent’s failure to re-hire Complainant when there was a need for environmental specialists amounted to blacklisting. Evidence does not show that Respondent would have subjected Complainant to the same adverse action or layoff despite Complainant’s protected activities,” according to the Labor Department order.
The order tells WRPS to reinstate Doss with the same pay and benefits she would be receiving had she not been terminated. It also asks for pack pay beginning in October 2011 based on her hourly wage of $38.43. WRPS is also ordered to pay compensatory damages of $20,000 for emotional distress and $4,381.32 for out-of-pocket expenses, as well as damages totaling $10,000 “for the callous disregard of the Complainant’s protected rights.”
WRPS Denies Allegations, Still Considering Its Response
WRPS said it is still reviewing the order, which it received Aug. 19. “No decision has been made as to whether Washington River Protection Solutions will request a hearing on the matter before an administrative law judge. The company has 30 days in which to request such a hearing,” according to a WRPS statement. “The employee was one of more than 200 employees who were laid off by the company in the fall of 2011 to align its employment levels with project work scope and federal funding. The employee’s raising of safety or environmental questions was not a factor in the selection for lay-off. Washington River Protection Solutions is committed to conducting its work at Hanford safely and in compliance with applicable requirements. Each WRPS employee is empowered and encouraged to raise safety or other workplace concerns.”
Sen. Markey Calls For Reinstatement of Other Hanford Whistleblowers
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called for similar treatment for other Hanford workers who have filed whistleblower complaints at Hanford, such as the high-profile cases of Walt Tamosaitis and Donna Busche. Tamosaitis, who formerly held the position of manager of the WTP’s research and technology group, has alleged he was removed from working at the Hanford vit plant in 2010 for raising technical concerns. URS laid off Tamosaitis in the fall of 2013. Busche held the position of environmental and nuclear safety manager, and has alleged she was fired by URS earlier this year for raising safety concerns. Whistleblowers at Hanford were also the subject of a hearing in March hearing of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing.
Markey said in a statement: “This reinstatement is vindication for all those who are retaliated against in order to report serious safety violations that risk the well-being of Americans living near nuclear facilities. It’s time to reinstate the other Hanford whistleblowers who’ve been wrongfully removed and establish a culture that allows employees to express their professional concerns about the design and construction of the facility without fear of reprisal or retaliation.”
Sen. Wyden: DOE Must ‘Correct Systemic Problems’
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has also actively pursued the Hanford whistleblower issue in the Senate. “I am pleased with the Department of Labor’s decision that Shelly Doss should be reinstated to her former job as an environmental specialist at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation,” Wyden said in a statement. “However, I remain very concerned that the Labor Department’s investigation in her case confirms that the Energy Department must correct systemic problems with the safety culture and retaliation against whistleblowers at Hanford. It is time for Shelly to get back to work and for DOE to ensure Hanford workers can share threats to public safety without threat of reprisal.”
Tom Carpenter, Executive Director of Hanford Challenge, and the attorney for Doss, stated: “Shelly Doss is an example of the talented, motivated and respected worker that the public expects to be working at Hanford. She properly reported and documented numerous environmental violations in a professional manner, and suggested ways to resolve those issues. Instead of praising her, WRPS management vilified her, ruined her career, and illegally fired her from her position. For the Employee Concerns Manager to participate in this behavior shows how out of touch with the law this company truly is when it comes to safety and ethics. Unhappily, this case is not an anomaly, but a way of life at WRPS. Upper Management at WRPS, or DOE, needs to clean house and get rid of the retaliators, and learn to embrace ethical employees like Shelly Doss.”
