Wash. State Supreme Court Denies Tamosaitis Appeal

The Washington State Supreme Court has declined to consider the dismissal of a case brought by Hanford whistleblower Walter Tamosaitis against Bechtel National, effectively ending that case filed in Benton County Superior Court. The state Supreme Court issued an order on Dec. 19 denying Tamosaitis’ petition for review without providing a reason. “We agree with the court’s decision,” Bechtel National said in a statement issued Dec. 20. “We are dedicated to providing a work environment where all are free to raise concerns without fear of retaliation. A workforce that is engaged in this way is one of the keys to the successful completion of the vit plant.”

Bechtel holds the contract for the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant and URS, which employed Tamosaitis, is its primary subcontractor. “We were hoping to change the interpretation of the law to give whistleblowers more protection, but the Supreme Court chose not to take it up at this time,” Tamosaitis said. The ruling does not affect his recently resumed case in federal court against URS Corp. or a complaint against Bechtel, URS and the Department of Energy under review by the Department of Labor.

The Washington State Court of Appeals found in July that Tamosaitis had not shown he had lost wages or other money as a result of being removed from work as the manager of the vitrification plant’s research and technology group. Tamosaitis’ attorney argued to the state Supreme Court that an interpretation of state law on tortious interference that considered only provable financial damages was outdated. Bechtel argued that noneconomic damages could be remedied through other legal action.