The Bothwell Letter
NEWS FROM THE LAW OFFICES OF ANTHONY P.X. BOTHWELL
350 BAY STREET, SUITE 100 PMB314, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133 TEL. (415) 370-5971
SEPT. 11, 2006 Vol. VIII / No. 3 attorney@apxbothwell.com www.apxbothwell.com

IN THIS ISSUE:
[1] Feds order nuke tech firm to pay whistleblower
[2] Trial exposes Montana oil refinery pollution
[3] Potential hazard lingers in Napa drinking water
[4] Passenger airliner safety violations cited in suit
[5] Danish Queen gets appeal for Earl of Bothwell
[6] Business Law course offered at Kennedy U.

[1] Feds order nuke tech firm to pay whistleblower
“The U.S. Department of Labor [DOL] has awarded more than $100,000 to a whistleblower who complained about work practices in the development of computer safety systems for nuclear power plants in Nebraska and Florida,” the Omaha World-Herald reported Aug. 16. “David L. Robinson, a quality assurance manager for Triconex, was wrongly terminated by the company after complaining about processes on projects for Nebraska Public Power District [NPPD] and Florida Power & Light [FPL], said his attorney, Tony Bothwell,” the Nebraska newspaper reported.

Triconex, a division of London-based Invensys, aims to dominate the multibillion-dollar global market for nuclear power safety instrumentation technology.

The Miami Herald reported on page one of its Aug. 11 Business section:
“FPL spokeswoman Rachel Scott said the utility had learned the work ‘had been done under improper conditions, which is why we stopped the job…. During the testing of this equipment by our quality assurance inspectors, they determined that the equipment was not operating properly.’ Robinson, a former senior inspector for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission with three decades of experience in the nuclear industry, worked for Triconex as a quality assurance manager…. On Monday [Aug. 7], the department [DOL] sent a letter concluding that Robinson had been wrongfully fired for revealing problems on ‘important-to-safety’ nuclear issues and ordered Triconex to pay….

“The company was also ordered to delete notations in his employment file that he had been fired for ‘unsatisfactory performance.’

“Robinson’s attorney, Tony Bothwell, said the engineer is continuing a civil case in Santa Ana, Calif., seeking $15 million in general and punitive damages against Invensys and three of its managers.”
The company has appealed the DOL ruling.

[2] Minneapolis trial exposes Montana pollution
The Billings Gazette published an in-depth story Sept. 5 on disclosures by a Montana oil refinery engineer concerning illegal emissions of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The article, based on a post-trial brief filed Aug. 15 by Atty. Tony Bothwell of San Francisco, reported Max Sims’ charge that the Cenex refinery, operated by CHS Inc., spewed about 55,000 long tons of sulfur dioxide SO2 into the air in excess of permit limits. The Billings newspaper reported:

“CHS executives, Bothwell said, showed indifference to Montana and federal air pollution regulations. ‘Corporate greed clouded their judgment,’ he said. ‘They made over $200 million profit last year. Cenex executives, like tobacco executives, thought they could disregard public health, retaliate against the whistleblower and figure the consequences are just the cost of doing business.’

“CHS management officials testified during the trial they did not know that sulfur dioxide affects human health, according to trial transcripts.” The firm is based in St. Paul, Minn.

The Gazette quoted Sims as saying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “betrayed” him by terminating its criminal investigation of the matter without referring it to the U.S. Department of Justice. “The EPA ultimately settled violations…with a civil consent decree,” the newspaper said. “The EPA’s settlement with CHS required the company to pay a $171,875 civil penalty and to do a number of projects to reduce pollution…. CHS officials testified in June that the cost of implementing the settlement was between $10 million to $15 million.”

Sims testified in the June 21-25 trial in Minneapolis – and another witness corroborated – that, when Sims discovered evidence of intentional violation of SO2 limits, his supervisor told him to “blow it off.” The supervisor testified that he told Sims to “not…God damn go there.” Sims was forced out of his job after he refused to go along with the coverup.

The Billings newspaper reported that Lani Jordan, CHS corporate communications director, said “CHS denies Sims’ allegations.” However, at trial, CHS executives contradicted each other regarding whether the refinery exceeded sulfur permit limits. CHS lawyers denied management intended to retaliate, but they presented no evidence to dispute Sims’ damage claims.

[3] Potential hazard lingers in Napa drinking water
New evidence reveals continuing problems related to the quality of drinking water in Napa, Calistoga, St. Helena, American Canyon, and Yountville. The City of Napa water department, which supplies neighboring communities, “has one of the dirtiest waters in California,” Turan Ramadan, the City’s water operations supervisor, testified Aug. 23 in Sacramento. Although the water quality is good enough to drink in the short run, “the wrong treatment method” causes some “contamination,” he said in a deposition in his pending federal lawsuit against the City. The ongoing low-level contamination “may affect public health” over the “long term,” Ramadan testified. The water is “caustic,” “not crystal clear,” and sometimes “tastes like beer,” he added.

By using excessive amounts of the wrong chemicals, the City of Napa wastes about $600,000 yearly, according to Ramadan’s testimony. Ramadan said his determination of proper additives has been overruled for the past three years by a manager. In a deposition on Aug. 24, that manager conceded that he has no license or expertise in water treatment. Ramadan has a master’s degree and 32 years experience in civil engineering, is fully licensed and an internationally-known water treatment expert.
In his lawsuit filed Mar. 8, 2006, Ramadan alleged that City officials retaliated after he complained that the manager, in October 2003, had ordered a plant operator to maintain chemical levels “that resulted in water taste and odor problems and could result in carcinogens in the public drinking water supplies.” The suit also charges that Ramadan was harassed and demeaned at work because of his Turkish Cypriot and Muslim background. Ramadan is represented by the Hassan Law Firm and Law Offices of Anthony P. X. Bothwell.

The management official, in his deposition on Aug. 24, conceded that contamination of water supplied to customers in October 2003 “exceeded” regulatory limits, and that records show plant “alarms were on” when customers complained of “bad water” causing headaches and sickness. The official testified that a customer complained that “the water smells like a sewer and tastes bad.” He admitted that Napa’s water plants “were in disarray, not operating effectively, needed to be cleaned up,” and caused “considerable complaints” about “taste, odor, brownish-green water” before Ramadan was hired by the City in 1993. Ramadan “did an excellent job of turning that around,” the manager testified.

[4] Passenger airliner safety violations cited in suit
The Bothwell law firm said Sept. 11 it filed suit against a U.S.-based airline, for an employee who has been harassed since managers found out she reported aircraft safety violations. Papers filed in court say that her “disclosures were motivated by her sense of duty and conscientious commitment to the safety of passengers and crews on airliners. Plaintiff knew, for example, that a crew has 90 seconds to evacuate passengers in a fire or other emergency, and that inoperable emergency exits and emergency evacuation slides can cause injury and death.” The airline employee alleges in papers filed in court that some “pilots often do not enter observed cabin safety violations into the log book because they do not want to delay departures or accrue repair costs.” The violations were brought to the attention of the Federal Aviation Administration. The court papers say that the airline “cut back on maintenance work” and that “aircraft maintenance records sometimes showed items were repaired when in fact they were not.”

[5] Danish Queen gets appeal for Earl of Bothwell
Television news in Denmark reported Aug. 9 that Queen Margrethe II received a request to allow the mortal remains of the Fourth Earl of Bothwell, who died in a Danish dungeon in 1576, to be returned to Scotland. The request by Tony Bothwell of San Francisco and his elder brother, Fred Bothwell of Georgetown, Tex., noted that the earl was the husband of Mary Queen of Scots as well as “hereditary Lord Admiral of Scotland, fighter for Scottish independence, strongest nobleman in the kingdom….” The request said in part:

“Your Majesty has consented to allowing the temporal remains of Her Majesty, the Sovereign Empress Mariya Feodorovna – mother of His Imperial Majesty, Tsar Nicholas II – to be disinterred from Roskilde Cathedral and transferred to the Russian Federation. It has been reported that Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary graciously have agreed to attend the reburial on 26 September 2006 in St. Petersburg. Surely, if the remains of Her Majesty, the Sovereign Empress Mariya Feodorovna – a native of Denmark – are transferred to Russia, it follows logically that the remains of the Fourth Earl of Bothwell – loyal Scotsman who died in Denmark because of political misfortune and an untimely shipwreck – should, at long last, be returned to the land of his birth.”

[6] Business Law course offered at JFK University
Formation and defense of contracts, real estate brokers’ duties, business crimes, administrative agency proceedings, equal employment opportunity, international law, and Internet law are among the topics in the Business Law course on the fall calendar at John F. Kennedy University School of Management in Pleasant Hill. Tony Bothwell, adjunct professor from Kennedy School of Law, will teach the course Tuesday evenings Oct. 3 to Dec. 12. “This course,” the syllabus says, “will provide an overview of legal principles, policies and mechanisms relevant to the contemporary business environment.”

ANTHONY P. X. (TONY) BOTHWELL, Esq. – Member, the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Bar of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Bar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the Bar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, The State Bar of California, American Bar Assn. (2003 delegate to the International Court of Justice, The Hague), Southern Poverty Law Center (Leadership Council), National Lawyers Guild, International Bar Association. Qualified expert, lawyers' standard of care (Los Angeles County Superior Court). U.S. Holocaust Museum (Circle of Life); Human Rights Conflict Prevention Centre (Advisory Committee, Bosnia and Herzegovina); Rotary Club of Fisherman's Wharf (President-Elect). Georgetown Univ. School of Foreign Service, B.S.F.S., International Affairs; Boston Univ. School of Public Communication, M.S., Journalism; John F. Kennedy Univ. School of Law, J.D.; Golden Gate Univ. School of Law, LL.M. summa cum laude, International Legal Studies. Professor, John F. Kennedy Univ. schools of Law, Management, Liberal Arts, and Psychology. Who’s Who in the Law; Who's Who in America; Who's Who in the World. Descendent of John Dreibelbis, captain in the Continental Army under command of General Washington.