By Anthony J. Oncidi
Anthony J. Oncidi is a partner in and the Chair of the Labor and Employment Department of Proskauer Rose LLP in Los Angeles, where he exclusively represents employers and management in all areas of employment and labor law. His telephone number is (310) 284-5690 and his email address is aoncidi@proskauer.com. (Tony has authored this column without interruption for every issue of this publication since 1990.)
Sanders v. Energy Northwest, 812 F.3d 1193 (9th Cir. 2016)
David W. Sanders, a maintenance manager for Energy Northwest (a nuclear power plant), claimed that his employment was terminated in retaliation for objecting to the severity level designation of an internal "condition report" that was generated by other employees at the plant. Sanders filed a whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor (DOL), and when the DOL failed to issue a final decision within one year, Sanders filed a complaint in federal court, alleging that he was retaliated against for objecting about a "nuclear safety issue." The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Energy Northwest on the ground that Sanders failed to establish a case of retaliation because his activity did not "rise to the level of protected activity" under the Energy Reorganization Act. The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal on the...
