News of the Week so that you can give someone access without his being able to do anything you don't want him to. So we already control access because supercomputers are a resource that needs control." Still, the security noose appears to be tightening around universities—if not in the reporting of research findings, then at least in controlling access to research and facilities involving the development of several critical technologies. The Defense Department specifies such critical technologies as energy systems, electromagnetics, optics, laser technology, and instrumentation. •
New on-line toxicology data retrieval system The National Library of Medicine's Toxicology Information Program has available a new data retrieval system for toxicology information. The n e w computer-accessed system, which became available on July 1, is called the Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET). The system is an expanded version of the Toxicology Data Bank that has been available from the library since 1978, explains Bruno M. Vasta, chief of the biomedical files implementation branch of the Library of Medicine. Much of the expansion is aimed at providing better information for making decisions about the cleanup of hazardous waste sites under the Superfund law. Initially, TOXNET has two components, Vasta explains, both based on the old Toxicology Data Bank. The first retains that name and will continue to focus on providing toxicological information that has been thoroughly reviewed by a panel of toxicology experts. Data on some 4100 substances are currently available in that system. The second component of TOXNET, called the Hazardous Substances Data Bank, is a broader, more comprehensive file that contains fuller information in areas such as environmental fate and exposure, standards and regulations, monitoring and analysis, and safety and handling. Data for this file are extracted not only from the materials on the 8
July 8, 1985 C&EN
Toxicology Data Bank source list, but from a variety of other sources such as government documents and special reports. These data also will be scientifically reviewed and edited, but they will not receive the detailed peer review required for inclusion in the Toxicology Data Bank system. To begin with, this system, too, contains the data on 4100 substances that make up the Toxicology Data Bank. Both files are accessible to domestic users of MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis & Retrieval System). At the moment the systems are accessed in much the same way the old Toxicology Data Bank has been available. This system is not so "user friendly" as it might be, Vasta says, and work is under way to provide access to the system through a series of menus that will be easier for the novice to work with. This access mode is expected to be available later this year. D
Age discrimination suit may be broadened A recent court decision on the issue of an employer's right to "fire at will" may lead to a significant broadening of the scope of a class-action age discrimination lawsuit filed against Hoffmann-La Roche by several hundred former employees of the company. The plaintiffs, who
Flamm: potential for broadening suit
sued in New Jersey Federal District Court in early May (C&EN, May 13, page 4), are members of a group of at least 1000 employees fired in February by Roche in a move to reduce costs. According to Leonard N. Flamm, one of two cocounsels for the plaintiffs, the potential for broadening the suit stems from a May decision in which the New Jersey Supreme Court, the state's highest judicial body, reversed a lower court ruling and sent back to trial a case involving a worker, Richard Wooley, who charged Roche with breach of contract w h e n it fired him several years ago. In the case, which is unrelated to the age discrimination suit, Wooley argued that the company's employment manual was contractually b i n d i n g , and that Roche lacked good cause and failed to follow the termination procedures outlined in the manual when it fired him. The court ruled that the manual was an "implied promise" that those steps would be taken before dismissal. Flamm says he now may attempt to insert a breach of contract charge in the age discrimination group's complaint. This would add a second theory of liability to the case, he says. He notes, however, that since the Wooley case involves New Jersey law, the federal judge, Clarkson S. Fisher, might exclude the charge from the federal suit. In that case, Flamm says, the plaintiffs could file a suit wholly on the breach of contract charge in state court. If they did so, however, the class of plaintiffs could include all those terminated in February, not just those over 40 years old. The case would then be enlarged considerably from its original status. Meanwhile, the number of those who have "opted in" to the age discrimination suit has climbed to 350 from 250 at the time of the filing, Flamm says. The attorney says that next he will ask Roche for a list of names of those fired and, if the request is rejected, will petition the court for permission to circulate a notice of the suit to all those eligible and who have not been contacted yet through networking. Flamm believes another 250 or so could be added to the class. •
