Court Upholds Award To Hanford Whistleblower Man Was Fired At Rockwell After Objecting To Improper Billing For Nuke Waste Disposal Fees

Washington’s Court of Appeals has upheld a jury verdict in favor of a Richland man fired from his Hanford job after complaining of wasteful spending at the reservation.

The Tri-Cities jury was correct to award Michael Bott $211,000 for wrongful termination, the appeals court ruled on Jan. 16.

Rockwell Hanford Co., Bott’s former employer, had appealed the verdict.

Rockwell fired Bott in 1987 after he objected to more than $200,000 in improperly billed radioactive waste disposal fees at Hanford.

Testimony at Bott’s 1993 trial showed Rockwell officials thought Bott made them look bad and may have helped cost them the lucrative Hanford operations contract, which they lost to Westinghouse Hanford Co. in 1987.

In November 1993, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary singled out Bott and several other Hanford whistleblowers as examples of unfair treatment.

She pledged “zero tolerance” for nuclear contractors who retaliate against whistleblowers who report waste, fraud and mismanagement. But Bott’s case remained unresolved until this month.

His victory is bittersweet, the 48-year-old Bott said Monday.

“It hasn’t come close to making me whole. I have no future wages. I’ll get to pay off my house - but that’s about all I’ll have,” he said.

Bott’s nine-year battle over his firing was featured in The Spokesman-Review’s 1994 “Wasteland” series on misspending at Hanford.

The case provided a glimpse into an unusual Cold War legal system where nuclear contractors are defended to the hilt by lawyers paid by the taxpayers.

After he was fired from his $30,000-a-year job, Bott developed multiple sclerosis and was forced to go on Social Security disability.

He scrimped to build his case against his former bosses, borrowing $15,000 from relatives and taking out a $10,000 second mortgage on his house.

Meanwhile, taxpayers shelled out $433,531 to Rockwell’s lawyers at Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle through 1993. Taxpayers also will pay Bott’s $211,000 jury award, $36,000 in attorneys’ fees and additional interest.

The verdict has accrued interest at 12 percent a year since 1993, said Bott’s attorney, Kristian Hedine of Walla Walla.

“We’re very pleased that the appeals court upheld the jury,” Hedine said Monday.

DOE has not responded to a Freedom of Information Act request for an updated figure on legal fees charged to taxpayers in Bott’s case.

A Rockwell official did not return telephone calls on Monday asking for comment.

The appeals court rejected Rockwell’s claim that the jury award was excessive. The court said it was based on a reasonable estimate of Bott’s lost wages.

But the judges denied Bott’s crossappeal asking for additional money for emotional distress and defamation.

DOE’s attorneys are awaiting a Rockwell decision on whether they want to appeal to the state Supreme Court, said DOE spokesman Terry Brown.

O’Leary’s desire to settle the whistleblower cases “will be a consideration in the decision,” Brown said.

, DataTimes