The Source for Railroad Injuries & Whistleblower Protection
Every railroad has them. Vague safety rules that are triggered only when a worker reports an injury. In a blistering Decision, a veteran Administrative Law Judge spells out why the use of such rules mandate the award of Federal Rail Safety Act punitive damages.
Union Pacific employee Brian Petersen was leaning against his car in…
When airline pilots feel medically unfit to fly, they have a right to stand down and seek medical attention without any adverse consequences. Thanks to the Federal Rail Safety Act, locomotive engineers (and all other railroad workers) now enjoy the same right to protect themselves, their co-workers, and the public.
When Locomotive Engineer Lonnie Smith…
Yet another federal district court judge has rejected rail management’s election of remedies defense to Federal Rail Safety Act whistleblower retaliation complaints. You can add Ratledge v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company to the growing list of federal court decisions dope slapping the railroads who raise such a hapless argument: see Solis, Reed, and…
Another federal district court judge has rejected rail management’s bogus "election of remedies" defense to Federal Rail Safety Act whistleblower retaliation complaints.
Reed v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company concerned a trackman who was fired after reporting an injury. While the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees union was representing him for that disciplinary action, Reed also filed a complaint…
A new web page for all things concerning the rights of railroad whistleblowers is now available on line. Go to "Rail Whistleblower Resources" for everything you need to know about the Federal Rail Safety Act. In addition to a "Summary of Rail Whistleblower Protection" and "Special FRSA Legal Standards," you will find the leading FRSA…
"If you see something, say something, except if you work for the railroad . . . " That was the theme of the nation’s second FRSA jury trial, resulting in a $1.5 million verdict for two workers who were disciplined after reporting a safety hazard. This was a FRSA only claim, and combined, the two…
Two recent decisions, one from a federal district court and the other from the Administrative Review Board, reject several of the defenses railroads have raised against Federal Rail Safety Act whistleblower retaliation cases.
Adding a FRSA Count to an FELA Complaint is Allowed
In Battenfield v BNSF Railway Company, Burlington Northern failed to prevent…
A federal district court has ruled that a General Release for a Federal Employers Liability Act personal injury does not also release a pending Federal Rail Safety Act complaint. In Tagliatela v. Metro North Railroad, 2012 U.S.Dist LEXIS 161835 (D.Conn. Nov. 13, 2012), custodian Ralph Tagliatela was disciplined for the “late reporting” of an…
It’s a common scenario: employee reports injury; railroad conducts investigation of the injury; railroad declares the employee’s statements about the injury somehow to be “inconsistent” or “misleading” or “false” and fires him for dishonesty. Two recent decisions explain why that is a violation of the Federal Rail Safety Act.
In addition to naming the railroad as a defendant in a Federal Rail Safety Act complaint, employees have the power to name managers or supervisors as individual defendants as well. And there are good reasons for doing so.
When OSHA, a judge, or a federal jury finds that a manager illegally retaliated against a worker…