Opinion ID: 3177083
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Retaliation Claim under the Act

Text: The whistleblower retaliation provision of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5851,1 protects energy workers who report or 1 42 U.S.C. § 5851 (a) Discrimination against employee: (1) No employer may discharge any employee or otherwise discriminate against any employee with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee (or any person acting pursuant to a request of the employee)– (A) notified his employer of an alleged violation of this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); (B) refused to engage in any practice made unlawful by this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, if the employee has identified the alleged illegality to the employer; (C) testified before Congress or at any Federal or State proceeding regarding any provision (or proposed SANDERS V. ENERGY NORTHWEST 7 otherwise act upon safety concerns. The statute specifically prohibits employers from discharging or otherwise discriminating against employees for several enumerated acts, including notifying an employer of a violation, initiating an enforcement proceeding, or testifying in a safety or enforcement proceeding. See 42 U.S.C. § 5851(a)(1)(A–E). The statute also includes a catch-all provision protecting employees “in any other action to carry out the purposes of this chapter . . . .” Id. at § 5851(a)(1)(F). To establish a prima facie case of retaliation under the Act, an employee must show that “(1) he engaged in a protected activity; (2) the respondent knew or suspected . . . that the employee engaged in the protected activity; (3) [t]he employee suffered an adverse action; and (4) [t]he circumstances were sufficient to raise the inference that the protected activity was a contributing factor in the adverse provision) of this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; (D) commenced, caused to be commenced, or is about to commence or cause to be commenced a proceeding under this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, or a proceeding for the administration or enforcement of any requirement imposed under this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; (E) testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding or; (F) assisted or participated or is about to assist or participate in any manner in such a proceeding or in any other manner in such a proceeding or in any other action to carry out the purposes of this chapter or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. 8 SANDERS V. ENERGY NORTHWEST action.” Tamosaitis, 781 F.3d at 481 (alternations in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). “Under the [Act’s] burden-shifting approach to retaliation claims, if an employee shows that his participation in protected activity ‘was a contributing factor in the unfavorable personnel action alleged,’ the burden shifts to the employer.” Id. (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 5851(b)(3)(C)). An employer can rebut the employee’s prima facie case under the Act if it introduces “clear and convincing evidence that it would have taken the same unfavorable personnel action in the absence of [the employee’s participation in] such behavior.” 42 U.S.C. § 5851(b)(3)(D). We have held that the Act serves a “broad, remedial purpose of protecting workers from retaliation based on their concerns for safety and quality.” Mackowiak v. Univ. Nuclear Sys., Inc., 735 F.2d 1159, 1163 (9th Cir. 1984). The Eleventh Circuit has noted that a broad interpretation is “appropriate” because it “promotes the remedial purposes of the statute and avoids the unwitting consequence of preemptive retaliation, which would allow the whistleblowers to be fired or otherwise discriminated against with impunity for internal complaints before they have a chance to bring them before an appropriate agency.” Bechtel Constr. Co. v. Sec’y of Labor, 50 F.3d 926, 932-33 (11th Cir. 1995). In Bechtel, an employee carpenter disagreed with his foreman about the safety procedures for measuring the amount of radioactive contamination of the carpentry tools. Id. at 929. The carpenter raised his concerns initially with his foreman, and then with the foreman’s supervisor. Id. at 931. The Eleventh Circuit held that the carpenter’s conduct qualified as protected activity, noting that he “did not merely make general inquiries regarding safety but, rather, he raised SANDERS V. ENERGY NORTHWEST 9 particular, repeated concerns about safety procedures for handling contaminated tools.” Id. The court also noted that “questioning one’s supervisor’s instructions on safety procedures [is] ‘tantamount to a complaint.’” Id. The Eleventh Circuit has also stated that “Section 5851 does not protect every act that an employee commits under the auspices of safety,” and that “[w]histleblowing must occur through prescribed channels.” Stone & Webster Eng’g Corp. v. Herman, 115 F.3d 1568, 1574 (11th Cir. 1997). In Stone & Webster, Harrison, an employee ironworker, was responsible for holding a weekly safety meeting. Id. at 1570. Ironworkers had recently been assigned a new responsibility, ensuring fire safety. Id. At the weekly safety meeting, the ironworkers complained that this procedure was unsafe. Id. Harrison, as foreman, raised the safety issue with the company’s fire marshal and also filed a complaint with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Id. at 1570–71. The Eleventh Circuit concluded, “If an employee talks about safety to a plant fire official, an employer and an industry regulator, he or she acts squarely within the zone of conduct that Congress marked out under 42 U.S.C. § 5851(a)(1).” Id. at 1573.