A federal district court judge in Tennessee has told litigants to resume mediation in a case involving a half-dozen employees suing the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory contractor over its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
In an order Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Atchley, Jr. said he is not enthused about going forward with litigation in a case thought to be essentially settled there months ago, save for a few small details.
So, the judge ordered the anti-vaccine employees and contractor UT-Battelle to plan to resume good faith talks with mediator Chad Hatmaker within 30 days, provided Hatmaker is available by then.
“At the Status Conference [back in June], while the parties acknowledged there remained a few outstanding terms to work out, the Court was further led to believe that the matter had settled,” the judge wrote.
“To this point, the Court has been flexible and accommodating, as it recognizes the process of finalizing a settlement is sometimes more complicated and involved,” Judge Atchley wrote, suggesting irritation at the plaintiffs’ recent opposition to resuming the talks.
While acknowledging he lacked all the details about the mediation, “it is difficult for the Court to view Plaintiffs’ refusal to return to mediation as anything other than recalcitrant,” Atchley said.
Earlier this month the parties informed the court in a status report that they had not been able to settle the case as expected, and litigation would be revived.
In October 2021 Jeffrey and Jessica Bilyeu, along with four other lab employees, sued UT-Battelle over the mandatory vaccination policy that initially resulted in them being placed on unpaid leave. The plaintiffs returned to work earlier this year after a federal district judge temporarily blocked the government and its contractors from enforcing the vaccination mandate, which includes religious and medical reasons.
The DOE has said well over 90% of its direct employees and contractors ultimately took the inoculation against COVID-19.
