Whistle-blower wins back safety job.Four and a half years after Steven W. Jones was fired for reporting safety violations at the nation's first full-scale chemical-weapons incinerator (SN: 12/10/94, p. 394), the whistleblower whis·tle·blow·er or whis·tle-blow·er or whistle blower n. One who reveals wrongdoing within an organization to the public or to those in positions of authority: "The Pentagon's most famous whistleblower is . . will be allowed to resume his post as chief safety officer there. Jones had been dismissed after only 4 months on the lob by the contractor that manages the facility, which is inside the Tooele (Utah) Army Depot. On March 24, a pair of judges of the Court of Appeals for the 10th U.S. Circuit ruled that the contractor had no justification for contesting earlier rulings ordering that Jones be rehired. Both an administrative law judge administrative law judge n. a professional hearing officer who works for the government to preside over hearings and appeals involving governmental agencies. They are generally experienced in the particular subject matter of the agency involved or of several agencies. and a Department of Labor review board had found insufficient grounds for Jones' dismissal. The Labor Department The Department of Labor (DOL) administers federal labor laws for the Executive Branch of the federal government. Its mission is "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working then ordered EG&G Defense Materials to rehire Re`hire´ v. t. 1. To hire again. Jones and give him back pay and $50,000 in compensatory damages A sum of money awarded in a civil action by a court to indemnify a person for the particular loss, detriment, or injury suffered as a result of the unlawful conduct of another. . The plant was under construction when Jones was fired. His claims that it was vulnerable to leaks of deadly nerve and mustard agents proved accurate. Within the first month of operation, it was shut down twice for leaks to be repaired (SN: 10/5/96, p. 218). |
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