A federal court could soon decide whether to hear the case of several Consolidated Nuclear Security employees who sued the Y-12 National Security Complex prime contractor in 2020 allegeding lost wages.
Last week, the three employees, who seek to create a class-action lawsuit, filed a second amended complaint with the U.S. District Court for Eastern Tennessee. The tweaks were intended to prove that the employees and their colleagues had indeed sued Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) in the correct court.
The employees sued CNS in 2020, alleging that the company in 2017 withheld a paycheck’s worth of pay from thousands of salaried employees after shifting to a biweekly pay schedule in 2015 from a monthly pay schedule
The Bechtel National-led site-management contractor argued back that, among other things, the member companies of CNS’ limited liability corporation were not Tennessee citizens. That led the plaintiffs to file an amended complaint in March, which according to U.S. District Judge Katherine Crytzer “addressed many of the jurisdictional deficiencies contained in the initial complaint.”
However, Crytzer said last week, the employees forgot to include CNS member SOC in the first amended complaint. So, the judge ordered the plaintiffs to touch up their complaint again. That resulted in Wednesday’s filing, which now sets the stage for Crytzer to decide whether the Eastern District of Tennessee is the correct venue for the case.
All told, the employees who sued alleged that CNS shorted its employees at least $10 million. CNS has denied that allegation in court filings and has declined to comment on the case since.
