A jury awarded more than $4.7 million in damages in early September to 11 workers who say a contractor fired them for airing safety concerns about work at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state, reports the Associated Press.
Workers say seven pipefitters objected in 1997 when told to install a valve rated to withstand less pressure than required for a test of radioactive waste pipes. The crew was later laid off, but a settlement required the contractor, Fluor Federal Services, to rehire them.