CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Three former nuclear oversight managers who worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) are suing the utility in federal court, claiming TVA removed them from their positions after they raised safety concerns and pointed out violations.
You can read the full lawsuit below.
Melody Babb, Deanna Fultz and Mark Richerson say TVA removed them from their jobs in 2019 as retaliation for reporting safety violations at TVA's Sequoyah, Watts Bar and Browns Ferry nuclear plants to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Attorneys claim instead of addressing the issues these workers raised, TVA's "focus became stopping the identification of them by the [oversight managers] and attacking the messenger."
The lawsuit says TVA disbanded an independent whistleblowing program called the Employee Concerns Program.
And, it claims the utility hand-picked overseers of a new program that was specifically designed to keep complaints quiet and intimidate would-be whistleblowers.
We have reached out to TVA for comment on this lawsuit. They tell us all three employees are still with TVA.
In an email, a spokesman writes,
TVA is carefully reviewing this complaint and will respond appropriately through the legal process. It is important to note that this is not a new matter. It is the continuation of a complaint filed with the Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) over two years ago. In the investigation phase for that...
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