The UC Board of Regents approved the proposed settlement terms in its meeting at Los Angeles today.
"When I became Laboratory director I recognized that the RIF lawsuit, as long as it continued, would be disruptive to getting us focused on the agenda I had laid out for the institution," Browne said. "Settling the case will let us leave this divisive issue behind and concentrate on building our future.
"Just as important, this proposed settlement will give the men and women whose careers and lives were disrupted by the RIF and who felt sufficiently wronged to file suit against the Laboratory an acceptable resolution to the event and let them move on. It also, hopefully, will begin to restore to the affected communities a sense of stability and trust," Browne said.
Of the 102 employees who filed suit against the Laboratory, 98 have indicated their intent to sign the proposed agreement. The settlement proposes that each of those will receive $16,000 plus 20 percent of the amount they received in severance pay at the time they were let go by the Laboratory. The total cost to the Laboratory under the proposed settlement would be about $2.5 million.
The proposed settlement also requires the Laboratory within 90 days to make 20 job offers for regular, University of California employment to RIFees who accept the settlement proposal. Those offers must be for a salary at or above what the person was previously making, including salary increases that occurred in the interim.
The Laboratory also will offer five two-year, limited-term positions within six months; extend the period during which RIFees can receive tuition reimbursement until November 2001 (tuition reimbursement up to $10,000 was offered at the time of the RIF); and continue to support a job resource center and external placement service until 2001.
RIFees who accept the proposed settlement, in turn, will release the Laboratory from all claims stemming from the 1995 RIF.
The proposed settlement does not indicate any wrongdoing on the part of the Laboratory in conducting the RIF.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.