US judge won’t recuse himself from shipyard cleanup fraud case

The federal judge handling multiple lawsuits accusing a Navy contractor of engaging in massive fraud in the cleanup of a toxic San Francisco shipyard has refused to recuse himself from the case.

U.S. District Judge James Donato disagreed with Tetra Tech EC that he "prejudged the evidence" and "already decided" the company inappropriately billed the government for services it did not perform, according to an order filed Friday.

Megan Oliver-Thompson, representing Tetra Tech, pointed to Donato writing in a previous order the Navy paid Tetra Tech substantial sums of money for work it "did not do, as plaintiffs allege," as a sign of partiality in a motion to recuse the judge.

Donato wrote he was "simply summariz[ing]" the allegations against the company in his order. He added that the phrase "as plaintiffs allege" makes his finding "patently clear."

"A reasonable person ... would not read it in any other way," he wrote. "Tetra Tech's suggestion to the contrary borders on the frivolous."

Seven whistleblowers alleged violations of the False Claims Act. Hunters Point Naval Shipyard property owners also sued the radiological remediation company for contamination near their homes.

Donato removed several lawsuits in state court to the Northern District because the shipyard is a federal enclave. United States ex rel. Jahr v. Tetra Tech EC Inc., 13-CV03835 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 19, 2013).

A date for a jury trial over the accusations will be set at an Oct. 31 hearing.

-- Winston Cho