Sanders v. Energy Northwest, No. 14-35368 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against his former employer, Energy Northwest, alleging claims of retaliation in violation of the Energy Reorganization Act, 42 U.S.C. 5851. The whistleblower retaliation provision of the Act protects energy workers who report or otherwise act upon safety concerns. In this case, plaintiff's single expression of a difference of opinion about the “Charlie” designation of one existing internal condition report lacks a sufficient nexus to a concrete, ongoing safety concern. Therefore, the court concluded that the district court properly granted summary judgment for Energy Northwest because plaintiff's conduct falls outside the scope of the Act's protection. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Labor Law. Affirming the district court’s summary judgment on a claim of whistleblower retaliation in violation of the Energy Reorganization Act, the panel held that the plaintiff did not engage in protected activity when he objected to the security level designation given to an internal “condition report” of a safety procedure violation concerning access badges. Dissenting, Judge Graber wrote that the majority wrongly narrowed the scope of the Energy Reorganization Act by rejecting the whistleblower claim on the basis that the safety problems were not overlooked, neglected, or concealed by management and were not concrete and ongoing issues.
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