Hanford Ordered To Rehire Safety Specialist

The U.S. Labor Department has ordered two Hanford contractors to rehire a radiation safety specialist they allegedly forced from his job for blowing the whistle on shoddy and dangerous work.

Bill Bricker, 36, a health physics technician, lost his job last August as Bechtel Hanford Co. and TMA Inc. laid off dozens of workers in what they said was an unbiased reduction in work force.

But a Labor Department official ruled that Bricker was pushed out the door because of his safety complaints.

“This investigation concluded that he was identified early as an undesirable employee and transferred to a dead-end and vulnerable job resulting in termination,” said a finding by the district director of the Wage and Hour Division in Seattle.

Tom Carpenter, a Government Accountability Project lawyer who filed the Labor Department case, said the contractors would owe Bricker back wages of more than $50,000 plus benefits and legal fees. Bechtel spokesman Rick Dale declined to say whether the company would appeal.