ML20147E061

Responds to 961021 Response to Notice of Violation Re Discrimination Against Individuals Engaged in Certain Protected Activities.Nrc Accepts DOL Findings as Basis for EAs & Does Not Intend to Reconsider Violation

ML20147E061
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	02/14/1997
From:	Lieberman J NRC OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT (OE)
To:	Hyster D RAYTHEON CO.
References
EA-96-137, NUDOCS 9702180180
Download: ML20147E061 (5)

Text

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y' t UNITED STATES g j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 30666 4001 o  !

• • • • • February 14, 1997 EA 96-137 .

David R. Hyster Vice President, Nuclear Services Raytheon Engineers and Constructors  ;

P.O. Box 8223 30 South 17th St.  !

Philadelphia, PA 19101-8223 ,

SUBJECT:

RAYTHEON'S RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Dear Mr. Hyster:

This is in response to Raytheon Engineers and Constructor's (Raytheon) October 21, 1996 response to a Notice of Violation issued by the NRC for a violation of 10 CFR 50.7, a regulation which prohibits discrimination against individuals who engage in certain protected activities. Raytheon's letter responded to a Notice of Violation issued by the NRC on September 19, 1996. i Raytheon denied that a violation occurred.

i The Notice of Violation was based on the conclusion that a former employee who j worked at HL&P's South Texas Project (STP) had been discriminated against as a  !

result of engaging in protected activities. Specifically, the NRC based its l enforcement action on a Department of Labor Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) i recommended decision and order issued September 29, 1995. The ALJ found that Earl V. Keene was the subject of employment discrimination in 1994 for raising concerns about signing off on electrical maintenance work he did not perform, a protected activity. The discriminatory treatment included being selected for a March 24, 1994 reduction in force, receiving a lower performance appraisal rating, and being subjected to fitness-for-duty testing on May 24, 1994.

In its October 21 letter, Raytheon stated that its bases for disagreeing that a violation occurred were essentially the same as its bases for challenging the ALJ's recommended decision and order in filings submitted to the Secretary of Labor in January and April 1996. In summary, Raytheon stated that the incidents underlying allegations made by Mr. Keene to the DOL were not raised as concerns by him during his March 1994 period of employment at STP; that the individual who selected Mr. Keene for layoff and evaluated him was not aware of Mr. Keene's alleged concerns at the time those actions were taken; and thus that retaliation for the alleged concerns could not have been the basis for the employment actions.

As discussed, the NRC based its enforcement action on the Department of Labor's findings. In the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary, the NRC accepts the DOL findings as a basis for its enforcement actions and does not intend to reconsider the violation. , ,

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9702180180 970214 p/hi D j

PDR ADOCK 05000498 G PDR

Raytheon Engineers and l Constructors, Inc.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR). -

Sincerely, I

&ld-mes Lieberman, Director l

ffice of Enforcement .

Docket Nos. 50-498; 50-499 License Nos. NPF-76; NPF-80 cc:

William T. Cottle, Group Vice President, Nuclear Houston Lighting & Povar Company P.O. Box 289 Wadsworth, Texas 7'/483  ;

Lawrence E. Martin, General Manager Nuclear Assurance & Licensing Houston Lighting & Power Company P.O. Box 289 Wadsworth, Texas 77483 Mr. J. C. Lanier/Mr. M. B. Lee City of Austin Electric Utility Department 721 Barton Springs Road Austin, Texas 78704 I

Mr. K. J. Fiedler/Hr. M. T. Hardt City Public Service Board P.O. Box 1771 San Antonio, Texas 78296 Jack R. Newman, Esq.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius .

1800 M. Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036-5869 I

W Raytheon Engineers and Constructors, Inc.

Mr. G. E. Vaughn/Mr. C. A. Johnson Central Power & Light Company P.O. Box 289 Mail Code: N5012 Wadsworth, Texas 77483 INP0 Records Center 700 Galleria Parkway Atlanta, Georgia 30339-5957 Dr. Bertram Wolfe 15453 Via Vaquero Monte Sereno, California 95030 Bureau of Radiation Control State of Texas 1100 West 49th Street Austin, Texas 78756 Mr. Glenn W. Dishong Texas Public Utility Commission 7800 Shoal Creek Blvd.

Suite 400N Austin, Texas 78757-1024 Andy Barrett, Director Environmental Policy Office of the Governor P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711 Judge, Matagorda County Matagorda County Courthouse 1700 Seventh Street i Bay City, Texas 77414 '

Licensing Representative i Houston Lighting & Power Company Suite 610 Three Metro Center Bethesda, Maryland 20814

Raytheon Engineers and  ;

Constructors, Inc.

Rufus S. Scott, Associate  :

General Counsel Houston Lighting & Power Company P.O. Box 61867 Houston, Texas 77208 ,

Joseph R. Egan, Esq.

Egan & Associates, P.C.

2300 N Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20037 ,

Mr. J. W. Beck Little Harbor Consultants, Inc  ;

44 Nichols Road  !

Cohasset, MA 02025-1166 i Edward A. Slavin, Jr., Esq.

35 S.E. 8th Terrace Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441-4340 Ms. Billie Garde, Esq. i Hardy & Johns 2 Houston Center, Suite 500 Houston, Texas 77010

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. February 14, 1997 Raytheon Engineers and Constructors, Inc.

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