Settlement reached in long-running lawsuit

The claims of 129 of the plaintiffs in the long-running lawsuit brought by 130 former workers against Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have been resolved through a settlement under which the Laboratory has agreed to pay the former employees a total of $37.25 million in contract damages. 

The lawsuit arose out of a 2008 workforce restructuring at the Laboratory, which impacted more than 1,000 employees. In 2013, the claims of five "test plaintiffs," out of the 130, were litigated in two separate jury trials. The first trial, alleging breach of the plaintiffs’ employment contracts, resulted in a victory for the five test plaintiffs and a damages award of $2.73 million. The Laboratory prevailed in the second trial, which alleged that the Laboratory had discriminated against older employees in making layoff decisions.

While both jury verdicts were on appeal, and with the encouragement of Judge Robert Freedman of the Alameda County Superior Court, the parties engaged in a months-long mediation that resulted in the settlement announced today. One plaintiff did not settle her case. The Laboratory continues to deny any wrongdoing in connection with the circumstances underlying the workforce reduction.

J. Gary Gwilliam of Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli and Brewer of Oakland, California, represented the workers.
 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, which was the named defendant in the lawsuit.