U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20210
ARB CASE NO. 96-178
ALJ CASE NO. 96-ERA-8
DATE: November 20, 1997
In the Matter of:
DONNA FRED,
Complainant,
v.
THE WACKENHUT CORPORATION
and
OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT,
Respondents.
BEFORE: THE ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW BOARD
FINAL DECISION AND ORDER
This case arises pursuant to the whistleblower provisions of the Energy
Reorganization Act (ERA), 42 U.S.C. §5851 (1988) and 29 C.F.R. Part 24 (1997).
The decision of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued July 19, 1996, recommending
dismissal of the complaint is accepted for the reasons stated below.
[Page 2]
BACKGROUND
The Complainant, Fred, appearing pro se, had been
employed by Respondent, Wackenhut, as a security guard at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power
Station in Nebraska. Wackenhut was the security subcontractor to Omaha Public Power
District (OPPD), the plant operator. Wackenhut fired Fred on June 8, 1989, after she had
been found unfit for duty. Fred filed charges against Wackenhut and OPPD alleging
discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. In July 1994, a trial on these allegations
was held in U.S. District Court, which found against Fred. The U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Eighth Circuit upheld the District Court judgment, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied
certiorari.See Fred v. Wackenhut Corp., 860 F.Supp. 1401 (D. Neb.
1994); aff'd, 53 F.3d335 (8th Cir. 1995), cert. denied, __
U.S.__, 116 S. Ct. 190 (1995).
Three years after Fred had been fired, on July 3, 1992, Fred wrote to
the Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C., outlining a litany
of allegations of mistreatment, but nothing specifically related to any complaint which she may
have made to the Omaha Wage and Hour District Office concerning a violation of the ERA.
Nevertheless, Fred alleges that she filed a complaint with Wage and Hour in 1989. An
investigation at the Wage and Hour District Office was initiated in response to the letter, but
no documentation substantiating Fred's allegations was found, nor did any of the pertinent
Department of Labor staff persons, who handled all of the office's whistleblower complaints
for the State of Nebraska during the time in question, recall any communication with Fred.
Subsequent personal contact with Fred by a Wage and Hour investigator did not reveal any
additional support for her allegations.