A federal judge last week set the schedule in a discrimination lawsuit against the liquid waste management contractor for the Energy Department’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, but has not set a date for trial.
Adrienne Saulsberry, an African-American woman and former employee of 23 years at Savannah River Remediation (SRR), alleged in an August 2016 lawsuit that she was terminated in 2013 because of her role in a different incident that also had racial overtones. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for South Carolina, and is currently being handled by Magistrate Judge Paige Jones Gossett.
In spring 2013, a white SRR employee was terminated after an internal investigation confirmed he had made threats toward then-President Barack Obama while in the presence of African-American co-workers, according to Saulsberry’s lawsuit.
Saulsberry, at the time a radiological first-line manager for SRR, confirmed to management that the white employee had made racially motivated comments. The complaint alleges she subsequently faced backlash from other white co-workers who were friends of the fired employee, including a manager who initiated her termination. She is seeking reinstatement, back pay, and payment of her attorney fees from SRR.
Savannah River Remediation has denied many of Saulsberry’s claims, and said her other claims had insufficient information to evaluate their validity. In court documents, the contractor has said she was let go as part of a formal reduction in force.
In the latest case filing on Sept. 13, Gossett gave each side a series of deadlines. By Oct. 8, Saulsberry’s lawyers must provide names, phone numbers, and addresses for each person they expect to call as a witness. SRR must do the same by Nov.7. Each party then has until Nov. 24 to file objections to the other’s witness list.
The parties will have until Jan. 7, 2018, to complete discovery, the fact-finding phase of the case ahead of trial. During discovery, the parties can request information from each other, gain access to relevant documents, and request depositions. After discovery, the sides will have until Jan. 21 to file any additional motions.
Finally, the parties will have until March 29 to complete an optional mediation, in which they would attempt to resolve the case without going to trial.
