Last month, the first reported Order imposing punitive damages against a railroad for violating the FRSA anti-retaliation law came to light. It concerned retaliatory conduct by Amtrak in Seattle, but the OSHA Whistleblower Office Press Release announcing the Order provided few details about what actually happened.

Well, my curiosity was piqued. I managed to get my hands on OSHA’s Findings and Final Investigation Report, and the details are very telling.

The employee was working in the King Street Station in Seattle. In the rail yard north of Holgate Street she stepped off a platform onto a parking area that was not properly maintained (potholes, uneven ground, rocks) and twisted her left ankle on a rock. She reported the injury to her supervisor, who saw her swollen ankle, and she booked off injured. Amtrak immediately charged her with violating the usual vague all-encompassing "safety" rules (including Amtrak’s "Standards of Excellence," whatever that is), and held a disciplinary hearing. Initially she was fired, but that was reduced to a 30 day suspension without pay.

The employee filed a FRSA retaliation complaint, and OSHA Whistleblower’s office investigated. OSHA found Amtrak’s managers had "a mind-set that employees are always at fault when they are injured on the job" and "engaged in intimidation by assessing severe punishment against employees who report injuries, which sends a chilling effect to all employees not to report injuries for fear of losing their employment." OSHA ordered Amtrak: to pay the employee her back wages along with punitive damages; to expunge the discipline from her file; and to not retaliate or discriminate against her in any manner in the future.

To me, the most remarkable thing about this case is how typical the scenario is: an employee reports a FELA on-the-job injury, and the railroad reacts by filing bogus disciplinary charges against the employee. This happens every day on railroads all over the country. The fact punitive damages were ordered for such a common situation bodes ill for railroads like Metro North, the LIRR, NJ Transit, MBCR, Amtrak, and CSX where the management culture encourages such knee jerk disciplinary retaliation against employees who report injuries. The FRSA is designed to change that culture by enforcing the free and unfettered reporting of injuries. And punitive damages are the hammer that will force such a cultural change. So railroad managers beware: you now are on notice that trying to discipline an employee who reports a railroad injury will put you squarely in the crosshairs of a FRSA punitive damage action.

As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Here’s an amazing new law that every rail worker should know about. The Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA), 29 U.S.C. Section 20109, hands employees a shield and a sword to fight back against rail managers who heretofore have retaliated against workers with impunity.

The FRSA prohibits retaliation whenever employees engage in certain "protected activity." For example, when a worker reports an on-the-job injury or occupational illness, the railroad is now prohibited from discrimination or retaliating in any way against that worker. Now, if an employee reports his own or a co-workers on-the-job injury and then his railroad disciplines, reprimands, fires, lays off, demotes, intimidates, denies promotion or benefits, or in any other way retaliates against that employee, the employee can file a complaint with OSHA that ultimately can lead to a federal court jury award making the employee whole and awarding punitive damages of up to $250,000.

This is the first time that rail workers have had the potential to win punitive damages against their employer railroad. Punitive damages are designed to "send a message" to a defendants by punishing them for a pattern of unaccepatable conduct. When a railroad retaliates against employees who report injuries on a system-wide basis, this new FRSA law allows juries to impose punitive damages that will discourage the railroad from continuing its course of retaliatory conduct.

There is a very short window of days within which employees can file their initial OSHA complaint: 180 days from the time the railroad indicates a desire or intent to discipline the employee. For example, this means 180 days from the date a railroad notifies a worker that it will be conducting a disciplinary hearing or trial. Failure to file the OSHA complaint within that 180 days is fatal to the worker’s claim.

When an employee invokes this new law, it is as if he dons a suit of armor against any future retaliation. It protects him against any future attempt by his railroad supervisors or managers to get back at him for filing the complaint. And his co-workers who talk to OSHA about the complaint also gain the same suit of armor protecting them from such future retaliation. This is true even if the original OSHA complaint does not result in any formal action against the railroad. It is true even if the worker’s injury does not qualify as a FELA injury. So this really is a game changing law that helps level the playing field for rail workers, and every employee should be familiar with it.

Welcome to Train Law Blog, where all things of legal interest to railroad employees and rail labor representatives are considered.

Railroad workers live in a subculture governed by a melange of esoteric federal statutes and agencies most people (and attorneys) have never heard of: the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and the National Mediation Board (NMB); the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) and Safety Appliance Acts (SAA); the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB); and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). As a result of these special laws, the labor, safety, pension, and job injury issues that arise for railroad employees are unique. This blog will highlight developments in the realm of railroad law and discuss how they affect the lives of railroad workers and rail labor representatives. From rail safety to railroad accidents and from collective bargaining to railroad strikes, if it is of interest to railroad people, this blog will look at it.