Chemical Weapons Working Group
P.O. Box 467
Berea, Kentucky 40403
(606) 986-7565
Government Accountability Project
1612 K St. N.W. 4th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 408-0034
for more information contact: Joanne Royce @ GAP
Craig Williams @ CWWG
for immediate release: Wednesday, January 6, 1999
UTAH INCINERATOR WHISTLEBLOWER, STEVE JONES, WINS LATEST
APPEAL; LABOR REVIEW BOARD SLAMS EG&G:
"We again order EG&G to reinstate Jones..."
EG&G Defense Materials, Inc. has lost yet another appeal in their four-year attempt to defend their illegal firing of former Chief Safety Officer Steve Jones from the Army's chemical weapons incinerator in Tooele, Utah.
In what citizens groups are viewing as a major stalling tactic to keep from having to admit to violating Federal law, last August EG&G appealed a decision by the Department of Labor (DoL) Administrative Review Board that ordered the company to give Jones his job back along with financial compensation for income lost due to being illegally fired. Subsequent to losing that appeal, in November EG&G filed another appeal asking for a reversal and a temporary halt to Jones' reinstatement pending a review. Now, the Review Board has again upheld the original decision and again cleared the way for Jones to resume his duties as Safety Officer at the Tooele Chemical Demilitarization Facility (TOCDF).
Reacting to this latest ruling Jones said, "I'm pleased with the repeated decisions in my favor and am looking forward to returning to TOCDF to resume my duties."
However, Craig Williams of the Chemical Weapons Working Group (CWWG), a citizens' coalition focused on the Army's incineration program, commented, "It appears that EG&G's strategy on the Jones case is to keep appealing each decision no matter how definitively the rulings state the company's guilt. I expect they will now go to Federal Court in spite of DoL stating in its latest decision that, "EG&G is not likely to prevail on the issues of reinstatement and back pay... and that the balance of harm and the public interest both favor Jones, and do not support EG&G's stay request."
Richard Condit, former Government Accountability Project (GAP) attorney representing Jones, said, "The fundamental issues that Jones raised remain unanswered. In light of some of the many problems experienced recently at TOCDF, it seems critical that he be reinstated immediately."
GAP attorney Joanne Royce, who also represents Jones, said, "It's distressing that the Army, who is ultimately responsible for the safe operations at TOCDF, continues to allow its contractor EG&G to use these delaying tactics. It would help the Army's credibility to make EG&G abide by the DoL rulings and do the right thing by reinstating Jones."
One of the arguments EG&G made in its appeal is that Jones' public appearances and participation as an expert witness in a lawsuit by the CWWG against EG&G, "render his reinstatement impractical." The DoL Administrative Review Board calls this contention by EG&G, "very troubling" and blasts their position stating, "Jones's participation in a lawsuit concerning the environmental dangers of the Disposal Facility is exactly the type of activity that the environmental acts protect."
EG&G also claims that reinstatement is not possible because Jones lacks experience in managing the safety department during "hot operations." The Review Board found that, "EG&G obviously believed that Jones was competent to manage the safety department during "hot operations" when they hired him, and, "We must bear in mind that it was EG&G's unlawful discharge that caused Jones to lack experience with hot operations."
In the initial ruling in Jones' favor, the Judge described EG&G officials' testimony as "pretext," "lies," "mendacity," "charade," "incredible" and "unbelievable." Now seventeen months and two appeals later, two Review Boards have affirmed EG&G's lack of credibility in the Jones case. According to Williams, "The kinds of spurious arguments being raised by EG&G officials and their unwillingness to admit wrongdoing show what their priority really is--to protect the image of the facility at all costs." He added, "EG&G has been found guilty of an unlawful act, but in spite of the cost and time associated with continuing appeals, EG&G and the Army can't even admit to breaking the rules surrounding a personnel issue. How honest can we expect them to be about day to day operations at the plant? There have been hundreds of alarms at TOCDF since hot operations began and every time EG&G and the Army claim "no agent has ever been released." Based on their record in the Jones case, they are not to be believed. For them it is deny, deny, deny."
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