A New Jersey jury awarded former Holtec International Chief Financial Officer Kevin O’Rourke $2.1 million Oct. 21 after finding the nuclear developer retaliated against him for raising concerns about a draft investment document related to its planned small modular nuclear reactor fleet.
Holtec disputes the finding and says it will appeal.
The document at the center of the dispute, which included financial projections and identified O’Rourke as its “document sponsor” according to court records, was prepared in 2022 for Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which has since become Holtec’s construction partner for the nuclear work.
O’Rourke alleged he identified statements concerning Holtec’s debt and covenant history, customer concentration, manufacturing facility values, research and development spending and other financial matters that he believed were inaccurate or misleading. O’Rourke also alleged he refused to direct a subordinate to upload the draft to a company Share Vault where Hyundai could access it because he believed doing so could violate the law.
Holtec fired him two days later.
The former executive sued Holtec in 2023 under New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act.
Holtec maintained that O’Rourke was fired for reasons unrelated to his objections. His supervisor, Kelly Trice, testified that the reason was a “loss in confidence in his ability to do his job,” according to O’Rourke’s trial brief.
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