Staff Reports
WC Monitor
8/28/2015
URS Energy and Construction has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant whistleblower Walter Tamosaitis for $4.1 million. “This sends a message to all those out there – especially the young engineers – who have integrity, are honest and have courage to hang in there that justice will prevail,” said Tamosaitis, who was the research and technology manager on the vitrification plant project. Tamosaitis was removed from the project in July 2010 after he said he raised issues about the future safe and efficient operation of the plant, including keeping high-level radioactive waste well mixed. Bechtel, the prime contractor on the project, was working to meet a deadline by the end of that month to resolve certain technical issues to earn much of a $6 million payment from the Department of Energy, which would be split with its subcontractor, URS, according to Tamosaitis’ attorney, Jack Sheridan. Bechtel and URS, which employed Tamosaitis, have strongly denied that he was removed from the project for raising technical issues or that he faced retaliation. Bechtel, which prevailed in a lawsuit Tamosaitis filed against the company in Benton County Superior Court, said he was removed from the project for writing an email that was disrespectful of consultants.
Tamosaitis continued to work for URS until he was laid off in 2013, but with negligible job duties compared to his assignment at the vitrification plant, according to Sheridan. He initially worked out of a basement office shared with copy machines. Managers at AECOM, which acquired URS in October, drove settlement talks in recent months, Sheridan said. “AECOM … reached its resolutions with Walter Tamosaitis in order to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation relating to events that occurred over five years ago,” AECOM said in a statement. Tamosaitis said he agreed to settle rather than proceed to the trial scheduled for next summer in federal court for the Eastern District of Washington because most of his objectives in bringing the case had been met, including expanding work to resolve technical issues at the vitrification plant, improving the nuclear safety culture at the facility, and aiding future whistleblowers.
Tamosaitis said he now is confident the vitrification plant will be designed and built to safely process radioactive waste stored at the Hanford Site. Technical issues attracted the attention of former Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who spent several days at Hanford in 2012 with a hand-picked team of experts. Construction currently is stopped on parts of the plant that will handle high-level waste until technical issues have been resolved to ensure the facility is designed to operate safely and efficiently. Full-scale testing of mixing of high-level waste within the plant is now underway.
Tamosaitis’ case was responsible for launching a nationwide look at nuclear safety culture in the DOE complex after he contacted the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board shortly after being removed from the vitrification plant project. The board found that Tamosaitis’ abrupt removal sent a strong message to other employees that individuals who questioned practices or provided alternative point of view would not be considered team players and would be dealt with harshly. His case also was discussed at congressional hearings.
The federal court case will help others who face retaliation for raising safety issues after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals made rulings favorable to whistleblowers, Tamosaitis said. The case originally was dismissed before trial in federal court by Judge Lonny Suko, who found there was not sufficient evidence to support Tamosaitis’ whistleblower retaliation claim because URS was only doing what Bechtel, the prime contractor at Hanford, told it to do. He also found that Tamosaitis could not have his case heard by a jury because the Energy Reorganization Act did not provide for a jury trial in this situation. In November 2014 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled Suko, finding “there is plenty of evidence that Bechtel encouraged URS E&C to remove Tamosaitis from the WTP site because of his whistleblowing, that URS E&C knew that Tamosaitis’ whistleblowing motivated Bechtel, and that URS E&C carried out the removal.” The appeals court concluded that a reasonable jury could find that URS ratified Bechtel’s retaliation by transferring Tamosaitis off the project and that a reasonable inference might be made that URS could have refused to carry out the transfer. Sheridan called it a landmark case, saying it extended potential liability to subcontractors who sanction retaliation by the prime contractor. The 9th Circuit also ruled that whistleblowers are entitled to a jury under the Energy Reorganization Act.
The settlement spells out that Tamosaitis will receive from URS $1.35 million for lost wages and $1.1 million for emotional distress and mental anguish. The remainder of the money will be sent to the Sheridan Law Firm. “We are very pleased that Walter can get on with his life after five years of litigation, and that he has been vindicated,” Sheridan said. “The settlement sends a message to whistleblowers everywhere that integrity and truth are worth fighting for, and that you can win if you don’t give up.” Tom Carpenter, director of the watchdog organization Hanford Challenge, called Tamosaitis a hero. Carpenter met with Tamosaitis immediately after he was removed from the vitrification plant project in 2010. “His concerns have led the Department of Energy to abandon a dangerously defective design [for the Waste Treatment Plant] and to call attention to the abysmal treatment of employees who bring forward safety issues,” Carpenter said. “The public owes Walt a debt of gratitude for his sacrifices.”
After Sheridan announced the settlement, AECOM reiterated that it strongly disagrees that it retaliated against Tamosaitis in any manner. “Safety at all of our projects, include the Waste Treatment Plant project, is our number one priority,” it said in a statement. “The company has not tolerated, and will not tolerate, retaliation or harassment in any form against anyone who raises a safety issue in good faith.” It said the company was pleased to put the matter behind it and continue with its important work at Hanford. Bechtel released a statement saying it was not a party to the settlement. “Our excellent safety record and the results of independent surveys demonstrate our commitment to a strong nuclear safety culture and zero tolerance for retaliation,” it said.
Tamosaitis said no amount of money could have paid for what he lost. “Work was my calling,” he said. “My focus really was not the money but making changes in the culture to make it better for others, and I think I’ve done that.”
