TVA's Bull Run plantA man was fired from his job at TVA's Bull Run Fossil Plant after only three weeks because he has a workers' compensation claim pending due to "exposure" experienced while working at the federal agency's ash spill cleanup site in Kingston, a legal action avers.
In his complaint filed in Anderson County Circuit Court, William Hedgecock seeks a total judgment not to exceed $1 million for alleged violations of the state's retaliatory discharge law. The complaint names Pullman Power LLC, a Kansas City-based industrial firm, as the defendant.
Hedgecock alleges he started work on or about Aug. 26, 2013, and was fired three weeks later, purportedly due to a "permanent furlough." No other workers were terminated, the complaint states.
When Hedgecock asked supervisor Larry Wheeler why he was fired, Wheeler allegedly responded, "Well, the TVA Comptroller instructed me to terminate you" and referenced the pending workers' compensation claim, according to the lawsuit. As a result of his termination, Hedgecock sustained "loss of income, emotional distress and humiliation," the legal action contends. He is seeking back pay, front pay, reinstatement and compensatory and punitive damages.
The Kingston ash spill cleanup involves 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash that burst from a ruptured holding cell at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant on Dec. 22, 2008.