Female Scientist Sues Federally Funded Southwest Research Institute for Sex Discrimination

TLPJ Joins Lawsuit Filed by Geoscientist Against Institute for Denying Equal Pay and Promotion Opportunities

A female geoscientist who worked on issues related to the disposal of high-level nuclear waste is charging Southwest Research Institute – which employs 2,800 at its San Antonio, Texas, headquarters and receives significant federal funding from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission – with sex discrimination for denying her equal pay and promotion opportunities. On August 25, 2005, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), a national public interest law firm, announced that it is joining a Texas trial team in representing Dr. Lauren Browning, who is also charging the Institute with retaliation for stripping her of responsibilities when she questioned her low pay and lack of advancement.

“The Institute attempted to humiliate and discredit Dr. Browning simply because she had the courage to question the discriminatory treatment she was suffering,” said TLPJ Staff Attorney Adele P. Kimmel, co-counsel for the plaintiff. “It is outrageous that the discrimination and retaliation leveled against Dr. Browning were funded by taxpayers’ dollars.”

From December 1998 to May 2004, Browning worked as a research scientist in the Institute’s Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA). Browning charges that, during this time, the Institute paid her far less than comparable male colleagues and repeatedly refused to promote her, even though her qualifications were similar or superior to male colleagues who were promoted after working as research scientists for a shorter time. (Browning’s qualifications included a Ph.D. in geosciences, more than nine years of post-doctoral research experience, and leadership responsibilities in the CNWRA’s work, as well as in the broader national and international scientific communities.)  In fact, Browning’s annual salary was in the lowest tenth percentile of the Institute’s salary curve for her rank of research scientist. The discrepancy between Browning’s salary and the higher salaries of male employees doing similar work was so striking that the U.S. Department of Labor flagged it in a 2001 audit.

Historically, female scientist and engineers have been under-represented at the upper levels of the Institute’s CNWRA. During Browning’s employment there, no female scientists or engineers ever reached ranks above those meant for new or recent graduates of Masters or Ph.D. programs.  As a result, all managerial decisions in that division during Browning’s tenure – including decisions concerning her salary and rank – were made by all-male teams of managers and directors.

“Dr. Browning ran into a glass ceiling at the Institute,” said lead counsel Hal K. Gillespie of Gillespie, Rozen, Watsky, Motley & Jones, P.C. in Dallas. “Her attempts to shatter that ceiling apparently fell on deaf ears. All too often, women are denied opportunities for advancement at organizations designed and run by men.”

Browning’s suit also charges that when she questioned her unequal pay and lack of advancement, the Institute retaliated against her by undermining her work and credibility with her peers, taking her primary job responsibilities away in January 2004, and again denying her a promotion in February 2004. Her lawsuit, filed on March 29, 2005, charges the Institute with unlawful, gender-based employment practices and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as gender-based wage differentials and retaliation under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The suit seeks back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and Dr. Browning’s reinstatement at an appropriate professional level.

“I brought this lawsuit in the hope that it will make the Institute examine its track record on the treatment of female employees. The Institute has a great deal of political clout in South Texas and in the industry, and it’s not easy for female and minority staff members suffering discrimination to speak up,” said Browning. “Perhaps this case will encourage other victims of discrimination at the Institute to stand up for their rights or at least let them know that they are not alone.”

“Dr. Browning’s case is just one example of the longstanding gender bias faced by many women in the sciences,” said Kimmel. She cited a multi-million-dollar November 2003 settlement achieved by TLPJ and three other law firms in Singleton v. Regents of the University of California, a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of female employees who were denied equal pay and promotion opportunities by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a national security research facility. “TLPJ joined this case because the courts are often the only recourse for improving the professional climate for female scientists.” 

In addition to Kimmel and Gillespie, the plaintiff’s legal team includes co-counsel Malinda Gaul of Gaul and Dumont in San Antonio, Steve Baughman Jensen of Baron & Budd, P.C. in Dallas, and TLPJ Staff Attorney Rebecca E. Epstein. The complaint in Browning v. Southwest Research Institute is posted on TLPJ’s web site, www.tlpj.org.