I am posting this here because, after reading through many of the threads, I think there may be one or two people who can point me in the right direction w/r/t PADS.
Backstory (general):
20 plus years Navy Nuke, retired Chief with a clean record. Post-retirement employment with a utility in Operations, earned a SRO Cert and was considered to be a good employee (per evals). Started applying to other opportunities within the utility because I felt there was little upward mobility in my department, but this did not sit well with supervisors/dept. manager. Hindsight being 20/20, I see now that I could've handled this more diplomatically, but at the time I was chafing against the culture in the department and wanted to move on, if possible. During this time I was tasked with an assignment that required review. I consulted with the reviewer by phone and had his verbal approval to sign off on assignment, and so I did. This was questioned by my supervisor, and I initially denied doing this but then admitted that the reviewer had not physically looked at the project and instead gave me his verbal okay. When questioned, the reviewer denied speaking to me or giving a verbal approval, so it quickly became my word versus his. I was discharged from my job with the utility for this falsification and was told that I would be subjected to a 6 month "ban" on PADS, but that was for our facility only and would not be global. It goes without saying that I knew I was in the wrong and take full and complete responsibility for my actions. I appealed the decision on the basis that this was a single incident in over 20 years in nuclear power, but the appeal was denied.
I have since learned the hard way that there is no such thing as a "local" or "temporary" ban as I was denied UA at another plant where I was to deliver training for my current employer. My current employer knows the details of my discharge from the utility (I willingly gave them copies of all paperwork) but feels that I should pursue legal action to have the denial of access removed from PADS as it amounts to blacklisting. Current employer's HR has reached out to dismissing utility's HR and Security repeatedly to clarify dismissal and revocation of UA but has not gotten any answers, which is why legal action has been recommended.
My question, then, is this--do I even have the nub of a leg to stand on in pursuing legal action? Current employer's HR finds it hard to believe that I would be subject to such harsh penalty or blacklisting for one isolated incident, but they also do not understand the in the nuclear industry all it takes is one incident. I am not looking to return to the nuclear industry (in fact, I have been contacted by recruiters but once I tell them about the dismissal/revocation, you can hear the door slamming shut), but I would like to be able to go back to HR and my managers with an answer as to why or why not it is worth pursuing.
I would appreciate any insight or advice. I understand that many of you will have strong opinions as to why I should never be granted access again, and I can appreciate your point of view.
Thank you
