The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a notice of violation and proposed a $36,400 civil penalty against Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) for discrimination by one of its Shaw subsidiaries against an employee who raised a safety concern. (CB&I completed a takeover of the Shaw Group in February 2013.) The NRC also requested CB&I take action to improve safety culture at a second former Shaw subsidiary. The NRC alleged that Shaw Nuclear Services committed two violations of NRC employee protection requirements. The first citation concerned the May 2011 firing of a quality assurance supervisor who notified Shaw and Louisiana Energy Services, an NRC licensee, of potentially faulty rebar that may have been shipped to its National Enrichment Facility in New Mexico by a third-party vendor. The second citation concerned language in Shaw’s corporate code of conduct that the NRC determined could prohibit, restrict, or otherwise discourage employees from participating in protected activities. In a separate letter to CB&I, the NRC expressed concerns about a “chilled work environment” at CB&I’s facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in which workers are hesitant to raise safety concerns through company channels. In September 2013, the NRC withdrew its Notice of Violation and the proposed civil penalty; in return, CB&I agreed to implement several measures to improve its safety culture.