The liquid waste contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina wants a federal judge to throw out a discrimination lawsuit, saying the former employee and plaintiff “has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
The lawsuit, filed on April 24, is one of two open discrimination suits against Savannah River Remediation (SRR) in U.S. District Court in Columbia, S.C., and one of several such cases the DOE site as a whole has faced in recent years.
Jimmy Rouse alleges he was wrongfully discharged in February 2016 after an 11-year tenure as a carpenter with SRR. Rouse, who is African-American, regularly received praise and pay increases for his work prior to being terminated, according to the complaint.
The suit alleges that, in February 2016, Rouse contacted Savannah River Site security contractor Centerra after witnessing an illegal drug transaction in one facility parking lot. A K-9 team responded, found a bag of marijuana in a car, and arrested the vehicle’s owner, Rouse’s lawsuit says.
However, authorities determined Rouse’s fingerprints were on the bag of marijuana, and he failed a drug test. “Plaintiff was never provided with the results of any of his tests, and adamantly denied the accusations,” the complaint states, adding that Rouse’s termination is a “direct result of (SRR’s) continuous pattern of intentional discriminatory treatment.”
Rouse is seeking reinstatement, back pay for the time he has missed at work, and payment of his attorney fees.
In a response filed on June 8, attorneys for SRR said Rouse has failed to articulate or identify an actionable cause of action based on the factual allegations. “Therefore, dismissal (of the lawsuit) is appropriate,” the contractor wrote.
Savannah River Remediation added that Rouse refused to take a polygraph test, and that further investigation showed him to be dishonest, which led to his termination.
