Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) employs 7,450 people and has an annual budget of $1.4 billion. But in defending itself against a federal court lawsuit brought by a former employee who says she was improperly fired from the lab in 2000, SNL says it is worthless.
"Please be advised that the net worth of Sandia Corporation on a year-to-year basis is zero dollars, which it has been since its inception and will be for the foreseeable future," says a May 10 letter from attorney Theresa Parrish, who is representing SNL in the retaliatory discharge case.
The letter was sent to attorney Sam Bregman, who is representing former SNL employee Mary Ann Mitchell-Carr. It says that while "Sandia Corporation is a for-profit corporation operating Sandia National laboratories ... All property and assets used in the management of Sandia National Laboratories [are] owned by the federal government, or must be transferred to either the Department of Energy (DOE) or a successor contractor at the termination or expiration of the contract for the operation of Sandia National Laboratories by Sandia Corporation."
The assertion that Sandia Corporation is worthless has outraged Bregman, who says his client was suspended four times in 2000, each suspension coming shortly after she filed complaints against SNL with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC).
"It's laughable," Bregman says of Sandia's claim. "This is a business that has 7,000 employees. You have to wonder where the billions of dollars of taxpayers' money is going. How in the world are they paying their 7,000 employees? I think my client will want to alert our U.S. senators that Sandia labs is worth zero and always will be."
Parrish says lab policy prohibits her from commenting on ongoing cases. But SNL spokesman Chris Miller says the lab is managed for the DOE by Lockheed Martin Corp. through a subsidary, which is Sandia Corporation. Lockheed Martin has annual revenues of $26 billion. "Sandia Corporation is considered more of a paper type of thing. That is why they consider the net worth zero dollars," Miller says.
Bregman says SNL's claim of a zero net worth is a ploy to keep from paying his 45-year-old client should she win her lawsuit. Mitchell-Carr is seeking compensatory damages as well as $750,000 in punitive damages from SNL.
"It is unfortunate that Sandia, which is entrusted with billions of taxpayers' dollars, feels the need to not only treat my client the way they have, but also to play games and hide the ball," Bregman says.
The case began in March 2000, when Mitchell-Carr, who is African American, was passed over for a promotion. An administrative assistant, Mitchell-Carr had sought to move up to a higher pay scale. Shortly after being denied the promotion, the 18-year SNL employee charged the lab with racial discrimination in a complaint filed with the EEOC. Mitchell-Carr's lawsuit alleges that during the next several months she was suspended three more times, all after filing EEOC complaints alleging retaliation on SNL's part.
She was fired on Aug. 30, 2000, five days before she was to become vested in her pension plan, Bregman says.
Mitchell-Carr will still be able to draw her pension, Bregman says, but she will now have to wait until age 65 to draw, instead of starting at age 60 had she been vested.
Bregman also claims that although his client has applied for 40 jobs since being fired, she has been unable to get one in Albuquerque.
"Sandia decided that they don't like people filing EEOC complaints, so they ruined her career," Bregman says. "That's not a way to treat your 18-year employees."
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