The largest award under the Federal Rail Safety Act has just been handed down against New Jersey Transit Rail. OSHA’s Whistleblower Office found NJ Transit violated the FRSA by disciplining a worker in retaliation for his reporting an injury, and has ordered the payment of $570,000 in damages to make him whole. This Award is historic not only because of its size, but because of the broad spectrum of its “make whole” damages, including punitive damages and damages for ruining his credit.
The worker–my client conductor Anthony Araujo–witnessed a fatal 13,000 volt electric arc explosion involving a contractor crew. In such a situation, if NJ Transit had any grounds for believing Tony had contributed to the incident, federal regulations required the Railroad to drug and alcohol test him. However, after extensive interrogation, NJ Transit told Tony he had done nothing wrong, and confirmed that by not testing him for drugs and alcohol.
Tony then was sent to the Railroad’s EAP for counseling, and the EAP Senior Counselor informed him he was not able to work and referred him for immediate treatment. This resulted in a lost time reportable injury. The next day the NJ Transit General Superintendent called the EAP to complain, and soon after filed disciplinary charges claiming Tony contributed to the fatal incident after all. Over the next year, the Railroad denied Tony his EAP benefits and then suspended him without pay. As a result of his lost income, Tony’s credit rating plummeted, his car was repossessed, and the bank foreclosed on his home, generating significant mental distress.
The FRSA is notable because it creates a statutory right for rail workers to win punitive damages against their employer railroads. OSHA’s investigation here found that because NJ Transit’s “conduct in retaliation against an employee for reporting an FRA reportable lost time injury exhibited reckless disregard for the law and complete indifference to complainant’s rights,” punitive damages are warranted. Unless and until rail managers respect the FRSA rights of their workers, punitive damage awards will be routine.
In the past, railroads were free to discipline employees without having to worry about paying economic damages beyond limited back pay. Those days are now over. This Award makes clear railroads will pay full damages for all of the economic losses their retaliatory discipline inflicts on workers, including the value of homes and cars lost as a result of employees being forced out of work. Here is the full text of the Araujo v. New Jersey Transit Rail Award. For OSHA’s Press Release, click here.
This case strips bare the retaliatory mentality of rail managers. With my help, Anthony Araujo was able to stand up for his FRSA rights and do his part in labor’s crusade to transform the retaliatory culture of rail management. This Award confirms that the FRSA hands to every rail worker the sword and shield necessary to wage that crusade. And the message of this Award to railroads is loud and clear: your world has changed, and managers ignore the FRSA at their peril. So here’s to Tony, and to the thousands of long suffering railroad workers who will be following the trail he blazed.