The Source for Railroad Injuries & Whistleblower Protection
As Yogi Berra would say, “It’s starting to get late early out there” for the Norfolk Southern Railway. OSHA has blown the whistle on NS’s campaign of retaliation against injured workers, and the Federal Rail Safety Act awards and punitive damages just keep piling up.
In the latest, Nelson v. Norfolk Southern Railway, OSHA’s…
Once again, OSHA has slammed Metro North Railroad with punitive damages for disregarding the Federal Rail Safety Act rights of its employees. This time it is for using prior injuries to deny promotions, and the resulting punitive damage award is $125,000.
Like many railroads, Metro North has a policy and practice of considering an employee’s…
The good people who investigate Federal Rail Safety Act complaints are part of OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program (OWPP). For those of you interested in the internal workings of OWPP, click here for the official Report on OSHA’s plans for improving its performance, including the hiring of more investigators and increasing training. For the official web…
Another railroad has been hit with Federal Rail Safety Act punitive damages for disciplining injured employees based on vague safety rules. This time it’s the Burlington Northern Railroad, who charged a conductor with being "careless of the safety of yourself and others" after he reported an injury. At the disciplinary trial, the charging officer "testified…
It’s official. Thanks to the Federal Rail Safety Act, railroads can no longer impose discipline based on vague safety rules that are triggered only when a worker reports an injury.
Every railroad has so-called "safety" rules stating employees must "be alert and attentive" and "take care to prevent injury to themselves" and "when in…
This entry honors the memory of Roger M. Lenfest, Jr., a courageous rail labor leader who has left us too soon. Roger’s railroad career spanned 40 years, most recently as a United Transportation Union General Chairman representing conductors on various carriers. But Roger’s defining moment as a union rep came in 1985, when he was…
Here’s the latest judicial decision rejecting the bogus "election of remedies" defense railroads continue to raise in Federal Rail Safety Act cases. This one is especially sweet in that it allows a worker to continue her frontal attack against Norfolk Southern Railway’s notorious practice of firing employees who report on duty injuries.
The facts are…
Are you fed up with rail managers who habitually ignore safety rules and regulations, and then blame the workers who get hurt as a result of management’s unsafe practices? Now you can do something about it. Here’s how to disqualify such managers from ever working in the railroad industry again.
There is a little known…
Add this to the growing chorus of judicial voices shouting down the bogus "election of remedies" defense raised by railroads. In a cogent decision, Judge Berlin confirms that Federal Rail Safety Act complaints are independent of Railway Labor Act disciplinary proceedings and cannot be derailed by a RLA award reinstating an employee with back pay.
Here are the facts.
The Union Pacific Railroad is about to learn the hard way that arrogance is not a defense to the Federal Rail Safety Act.
The FRSA gives OSHA the power to order the “preliminary reinstatement” of an employee with full back pay. The reinstatement goes into immediate effect even if the railroad objects…