Doyle v. U.S. Secretary of Labor
| Decision Date | 27 March 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-2035.,No. 00-1589.,00-1589.,00-2035. |
| Citation | 285 F.3d 243 |
| Parties | Shannon T. DOYLE, Petitioner, v. U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR and U.S. Department of Labor Administrative Review Board, Respondents. Hydro Nuclear Services, Inc., Petitioner, v. The Secretary of Labor, Administrative Review Board, and The UNITED STATES Department of Labor, Respondents. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Stephen M. Kohn (argued), Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, Washington, DC, for Petitioner in No. 00-1589 and Intervenor in No. 00-2035.
Peter Buscemi (argued), Thomas A. Schmutz, David R. Lipson, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Washington, DC, Glen R. Stuart, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Philadelphia, PA, Hope A. Comisky, Michael H. Rosenthal, Pepper Hamilton, Philadelphia, PA, for Petitioner in No. 00-2035.
Howard M. Radzely, Acting Solicitor of Labor, Steven J. Mandel, Associate Solicitor; Paul L. Frieden, Lois R. Zuckerman, (argued), Office of the Solicitor, United States Department of Labor, Washington, DC, for Respondents.
BEFORE: SCIRICA, GREENBERG, and BRIGHT,* Circuit Judges.
These matters come on before this court on consolidated petitions for review of a May 17, 2000 Final Decision and Order issued by the Administrative Review Board ("ARB") acting on behalf of the United States Secretary of Labor and United States Department of Labor, and of a March 30, 1994 Final Decision and Order of the Secretary. The Secretary's decision and order determined that petitioner Hydro Nuclear Services, Inc. ("Hydro") violated Section 210 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 ("ERA"), 42 U.S.C. § 5851, when it failed to hire petitioner-intervenor Shannon T. Doyle because of his refusal to sign an authorization for release of records including a release of liability provision. The ARB's decision and order granted Doyle remedies of $218,378 in back pay, $154,695 in front pay, $45,000 in lost benefits, $80,000 in compensatory damages, $290,127.47 in attorney's fees and costs, and prejudgment and postjudgment interest on both the front and back pay.
In these proceedings Hydro contests the finding of liability while Doyle contends that the ARB should have awarded him a tax enhancement to compensate for the burden of receiving a lump sum award of back pay. For the reasons set forth below, we will grant Hydro's petition, set aside the Secretary's finding of liability, and vacate all awards of damages, remedies, fees and costs. Therefore, we will dismiss Doyle's petition as moot.
The factual synopsis we detail below is not controverted. Hydro,1 based in Moorestown, New Jersey, provided temporary workers to assist in the decontamination and maintenance of nuclear power plants. Hydro had a contract with the D.C. Cook nuclear power plant in Bridgeman, Michigan, to supply the plant with temporary and year-round decontamination technicians.
In the fall of 1988, Hydro recruited Doyle to work as a temporary senior decontamination technician during a planned refueling outage at the plant. The pay rate for this job was to be modest, $6.50 per hour with an enhancement for overtime and a $48.00 per diem allowance. As part of the routine screening process, Hydro required Doyle to take a series of psychological and drug tests and to complete a routine employment application that included Hydro's standard "Authorization for Release of Information and Records." In this regard, Hydro treated Doyle the same as all other job applicants, and Doyle does not claim otherwise. The authorization stated as follows:
AUTHORIZATION FOR RELEASE OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS
In accordance with the Privacy Act (5U.S.C. 552a), I, the undersigned expressly authorize any person, association, firm, company, criminal justice agency, Credit Extending Organizations, Schools, Doctors, or Hospitals, Department or agency of a City, County, or State Government, or of the Federal Government to release and furnish to Hydro Nuclear Services and its authorized representatives ____ any and all information and records pertaining to me including, but not limited to, originals or copies of any documents, records, reports, transcripts, abstracts, military records, criminal records, or any other information.
Further, I hereby release and discharge Hydro Nuclear Services, their representatives, and their clients for whom the investigation is being performed and any organization listed above furnishing or receiving any information pertaining to me from any and all liability or claim as results [sic] of furnishing or receiving such information pursuant to this authorization.
Hydro Nuclear Services is authorized to utilize the information it obtains for the purpose of evaluation, my eligibility for clearance, allowing unescorted access to Nuclear Power Stations, as required by Government regulations.
A photo copy of this authorization shall be deemed an original and shall be accepted as such by any person or organization.
Doyle refused to sign the authorization presented, asserting to Robert Booker, Hydro's Manager of Employee Relations, that the second quoted paragraph waived his right to file a charge under the ERA. Doyle's concern largely was attributable to his belief that his former employer, Alabama Power Company, against whom he had filed a "whistleblowing" claim, implicitly was included in the release. Doyle advised Booker of this claim, thus giving Hydro its first notice of it. Doyle opted to cross out the paragraph in question and sign the redacted version of the authorization.
Booker, however, informed Doyle that unless he signed the original version of the authorization, Hydro would be unable to tender him an offer of employment. Not-withstanding the caveat, Doyle refused to sign the full authorization. Hydro, in turn, chose not to hire Doyle, though it did compensate him for travel expenses and per diem rates as agreed.
On December 9, 1988, Doyle filed a pro se complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor, alleging that Hydro violated the employee protection provisions of the ERA by refusing to hire him unless he signed the release. Hydro filed a response on January 26, 1989.
After an unsuccessful conciliation attempt and investigation, the Wage and Hour Division rejected the claim, concluding that Hydro did not violate the ERA by ceasing to consider Doyle for potential employment once he refused to sign the full authorization because "[a]ll evidence indicates that Hydro Nuclear Services, Inc. terminated [Doyle's] employment solely because of [his] refusal to sign the firm's standard Privacy Act waiver form and not because of [his] prior admitted whistleblower activities" or engagement in other "protected activity under the Energy Reorganization Act." JA at 186.
Notified of his right to appeal and obtain a hearing on the merits, Doyle formally requested review by an administrative law judge. Hydro and Doyle submitted a stipulated record of fact and motions for summary decision pursuant to 29 C.F.R. §§ 18.40 and 18.41.
On July 11, 1989, the administrative law judge issued his Recommended Decision and Order Granting Respondent's Motion for Summary Judgment indicating as follows:
[Hydro] had a right to require all prospective employees to sign such a release in order to obtain all necessary information pertaining to an individual's post [sic] record. Since [Doyle] refused to accept this requirement I find that [Hydro] had a legal right to refuse to employ [Doyle]. Employers who hire workers for nuclear power plants must ensure the health and safety of the public by carefully screening all prospective employees. [Hydro] in requiring all employees including [Doyle] to sign its release was exercising an essential step in performing its duty of responsible investigation and screening of employees.
The Secretary conducted a de novo review of the recommendation of the administrative law judge. Finally, on March 30, 1994, the Secretary issued a letter Final Decision and Order, rejecting the analysis of the administrative law judge and concluding that Hydro "violated the ERA when it refused to hire [Doyle] because he refused to sign the authorization form unless the release of liability paragraph was deleted." JA at 22. The Secretary ordered Hydro to reinstate Doyle with back pay, including interest.
In reaching his result the Secretary indicated that "[e]ven lawyers can disagree over the scope and effect of the language in question." He indicated, however, that:
Giving the authorization form its most narrow reading, it would release [Hydro] and any other employer from whom [Hydro] obtained information about [Doyle] from any claim that the information had been provided or used to deny [Doyle] employment because of protected activities under the ERA. In other words, by signing the form, [Doyle] would have waived his right to file a complaint of illegal blacklisting under the ERA.
JA at 16-17 (footnote omitted).
The Secretary subsequently stated:
There can be little doubt that, if [Doyle] had signed the authorization form, but [Hydro] refused to hire him based on information from a previous employer about [Doyle's] protected activities, and [Doyle] filed a complaint under the ERA of discriminatory refusal to hire, waiver of rights under the ERA could not be raised by [Hydro] as a defense. Otherwise, any covered employer could nullify the Act and Congressional intent to protect public health and safety by prohibiting retaliation against those who report potential safety hazards in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants.
Hydro petitioned this court for review of the Secretary's decision and order on May 26, 1994. Thereafter, on August 24, 1994, we granted a joint motion of the Secretary and Hydro to remand the matter for further administrative proceedings to...
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