BECHTEL NATIONAL WANTS TAMOSAITIS SUIT THROWN OUT

By ExchangeMonitor

In a court filing obtained by WC Monitor yesterday, Bechtel National is seeking a dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Tamosaitis, who has alleged he was removed from the project for raising safety issues. In a motion for summary judgment filed late last month in the Superior Court of Washington for Benton County, Bechtel National charged that Tamosaitis’ suit alleging the contractor interfered with his expectancy of future work at the WTP is ‘fatally flawed’ in several respects. “Walter Tamosaitis’s own documentary and testimonial admissions demonstrate conclusively that his tortious interference claim is inconsistent with the uncontested facts. That is true regardless of the validity or invalidity of Tamosaitis’s allegation that he was retaliated against: Even if there was merit to that allegation (which there is not), he still could not shoehorn it into the framework of a valid tortious interference claim under Washington law.”

Among Bechtel National’s claims is that “the undisputed evidence” demonstrates that Tamosaitis, an employee of URS, had no expectancy for any specific position prior to his removal from the WTP last summer. While Tamosaitis has alleged he was removed from the vit plant for raising safety issues, Bechtel National and URS have claimed his departure from the WTP had been in the works for months before it occurred. The motion states that “his only true ‘expectancy’ was the certain knowledge that his WTP position was ending: he was actively searching for a new job within the URS corporate system, and anticipated being available to transfer to some new position (whatever it might be) as of June 30, 2010—just two days prior to the actual date of his transfer off the Project.” Bechtel National’s motion also notes that Tamosaitis’ employment with URS has not been interrupted and that he has suffered no economic damages. “Tamosaitis has admitted that he continues to be employed by URS at the same elevated pay grade—the highest non-executive pay grade in the company—that he enjoyed while assigned to WTP,” the motion states.

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