A lawsuit claiming the Savannah River Site’s security contractor discriminated against a former employee should be dismissed because it was filed past the time allowed under the statute of limitations, a federal magistrate judge recommended.
Judge Paige Gossett also noted on Jan. 30 that Marcialena Brown’s $3.5 million complaint covers both Centerra-SRS and two company employees. But suing employees is not permissible in a Title VII case, in which a worker alleges discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or retaliation, Gossett wrote in her report.
In her filing, Gossett sided with Centerra’s motion for judgment on the pleadings from Brown.
The case is being overseen by District Judge Sherri Lydon, who requested Gossett’s opinion on the matter. It is unclear why she wanted outside input, but opinions from magistrate courts are often sought in discrimination cases.
Brown, who is African-American, filed the lawsuit on July 22, 2019, citing events that began on May 2, 2015. While employed by Centerra as a security officer at the DOE facility in South Carolina, Brown left her M4 rifle in a women’s bathroom on site unattended for five minutes, the lawsuit says. About three weeks later, she was fired after 16 years with the company. In that process, Brown alleges Centerra did not follow its own disciplinary procedures, though she did not explain exactly what those procedures involve.
More than three years later, in September 2018, a white female employee left her Glock 40 handgun in a bathroom unattended, according to the lawsuit. Brown said she learned of the incident in November 2018 and found out that the employee was only issued a written warning. “I felt that the Company’s decision was unfair and discriminatory,” she wrote in the suit, in which she is representing herself.
Brown is seeking $3 million in compensatory damages, including for unfair dismissal, distress, and mental suffering. Her lawsuit also requests $500,000 in punitive damages.
