Consolidated Edison Co. v. Donovan

Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Edison) petitions this court to set aside an order by the Secretary of Labor directing the reinstatement of employee Michael Cotter. The Secretary, adopting the recommended decision and order of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), determined that Con Edison violated the employee protection provision of the Energy Reorganization Act, 42 U.S.C. § 5851,1 by discharging Cotter for complaining about nuclear safety hazards in the workplace. The evidence before the ALJ makes clear that we are dealing with a ""dual motive"" discharge. Con Edison claims that the discharge was justified because Cotter threatened to kill his supervisor, Ferdinand Dorrer.