June 20, 2001

Jonathan Hutson, TLPJ, 202-797-8600 x 246
Arthur Bryant, TLPJ, 510-622-8150 x 202
Victoria Ni, TLPJ, 510-622-8150 x 204

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) has joined in prosecuting a nationally-significant gender discrimination class action against Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL or the Lab) for depriving thousands of female current and former employees of equal pay and promotions. The suit charges that the Lab, managed by the Regents of the University of California, has documented but failed to correct its discrimination for over a decade.

 "A glass ceiling has limited the progress and pay of women at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for far too long," said TLPJ Executive Director Arthur H. Bryant. "This lawsuit is intended to shatter it. Sex discrimination has no place at America’s national laboratories."

The class action suit, Singleton v. Regents of the University of California, is currently pending in Superior Court in Oakland, California. James C. Sturdevant and Mark T. Johnson of San Francisco’s The Sturdevant Law Firm and J. Gary Gwilliam of Oakland’s Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer are lead counsel.

 TLPJ’s initial focus in the case will be challenging LLNL’s efforts to keep secret its gender equity studies, conducted at the urging of women employees complaining of discrimination at the Lab. The studies reportedly show that women at LLNL received fewer promotions and less pay than their male counterparts across a variety of job classifications and salary scales. The Lab has refused to produce the studies on the basis that they are allegedly protected by the attorney-client privilege.

 "We believe that the internal studies the Lab is trying to hide prove that disparate treatment of male and female employees is an ongoing, pernicious problem," said TLPJ Staff Attorney Victoria Ni, co-counsel in the case. "The women and the public should be entitled to review records showing that this national institution has long been aware of gender discrimination and failed to redress the disparities."

The Regents of the University of California run the national security lab under a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy. The six named plaintiffs – female scientists and other professional and technical employees – contend that women earn an average of $2,100 a month less than males of comparable edu-cation and experience. LLNL’s Affirmative Action Diversity Program division has acknowledged that there has been limited advancement of women employees at the Lab. For example, the division drafted a 1991 report, Review of LLNL Promotional Opportunities for Women and Minorities, which noted that only 10 female scientists and engineers held scientific management positions, compared with 238 men in such positions. Another LLNL study confirmed that "a salary lag does exist for women and minorities."

 "One would think that rocket scientists grasp the principles of equal pay for equal work, and equal advancement opportunities for equally qualified workers," said Sturdevant. "Yet the pattern of pervasive and systemic discrimination continues."

 "This is truly a significant case of gender discrimination," said Gwilliam. "Our national laboratories should be dedicated to advancing the best and the brightest regardless of gender. Unfortunately, that is not what they have been doing at the Livermore Lab."

Lead plaintiff Mary Singleton, MS, a research chemist, says that Lab supervisors denied her promotions and, at one point, paid her $2,000 less per month than comparably qualified male colleagues. Since the late 1970s, Singleton has helped to spearhead efforts to persuade Lab management to recognize and take corrective action against gender discrimination. She and other members of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Women’s Association struggled throughout the 1980s to obtain information to confirm the existence of the discrimination they believed permeated LLNL’s compensation system. Their requests were largely ignored. 

Finally, the Women’s Association conducted its own comprehensive salary study, which identified widespread discrepancies between the salaries of male and female employees at LLNL. Only after Singleton, on behalf of the Women’s Association, presented the study to the LLNL director in 1988 did LLNL finally agree to examine the issue of gender equity. Thereafter, LLNL’s own internal studies confirmed that salary disparities between men and women existed. 

Although various committees and task groups were formed allegedly to address the concerns of the Women’s Association, no significant steps were ever taken to address the systemic salary differences. After years of unfulfilled promises, Singleton and five of her colleagues finally filed suit in 1998, alleging violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California Equal Pay Act. The other named plaintiffs are Gloria Glasscox, a senior management analyst from 1987-1999; Shirley Rogers Jennings, a computer support associate hired in 1981; Jannelle Spann, an executive staff member hired in 1976; Maura Spragge, a senior mechanical technologist hired in 1977; and Katherine Lynette Fritz, a designer hired in 1976. 

In January 2001, California Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw certified the case as a class of at least 5,000 – and possibly more than 10,000 – former and current female employees. The trial is expected to take place sometime in 2002. The legal team for the plaintiffs also includes Kimberly M. Drake of Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer. 

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Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is the only national public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers’ skills and resources to advance the public good. Founded in 1982, TLPJ utilizes a nationwide network of more than 2,500 trial lawyers to pursue precedent-setting and socially significant litigation. It has a wide-ranging litigation docket in the areas of civil rights and liberties, consumer rights, worker safety, toxic torts, environmental protection, and access to the courts. TLPJ is the principal project of The TLPJ Foundation, a not-for-profit membership organization. It has offices in Washington, DC, and Oakland, CA. The TLPJ web site address is www.publicjustice.net.