Chemist claims he was fired after telling women to shower after nuclear lab spill

INDIANAPOLIS — A former IUPUI nuclear chemist is suing the school after he was fired for allegedly having two women take showers following a spill in a lab.

Bradly Keck, who was assistant director of health physics at IU Health in Indianapolis, is alleging job discrimination in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana.

He has named IUPUI and the Indiana University Board of Trustees in his filing.

According to his lawsuit, there was a highly radioactive nuclear spill on Jan. 11. Keck blames two female technicians, one a student and the other an employee, for contaminating the lab.

Keck and another co-worker began assisting the co-worker performing cleanup. Keck addressed the contamination of the technicians by scanning them with a meter and found them contaminated with radioactive isotopes.

He ordered them to go to a women’s locker room, remove their clothes and shower individually.

He claims that failure to remove the contamination could have resulted in serious health risks. Each showered between two and four times.

Keck again ran the meter over contaminated areas of their skin. He told them to go back into the shower where he washed their calves to remove any remaining contamination, he says.

He provided them with clean lab scrubs.

His lawsuit alleges that the women thanked him as did his supervisor. He alleges that the director of environment health and safety said, “That’s emergency response. You trade a little nudity for safety.”

However, he was suspended pending an investigation. On Jan. 25, he notified the university that he was alleging sex discrimination. He was fired Jan. 31.

Keck is asking that he be reinstated to his job and be paid compensatory damages.

Indiana University has not responded to the lawsuit.

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