The Source for Railroad Injuries & Whistleblower Protection
Did you know that rail workers who refuse to violate the Hours of Service Act are protected by Section 20109 of the FRSA? The Norfolk Southern Railway just found out the hard way.
In Lancaster v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company, the NS required a locomotive engineer to continued writing a statement beyond the…
In a case of first impression, a federal judge has applied FRSA subsection (c)(2)’s exception to the prohibition against railroads disciplining employees for following the orders of a treating physician. Stapleton v. Union Pac. R.R. Co.
The exception to (c)(2) is:
a railroad carrier’s refusal to permit an employee to return to work following medical
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Federal Rail Safety Act Section 20109(a)(4) protects rail workers who notify their railroad of “a work-related personal injury or work-related illness.” Injuries usually are pretty obvious. But what qualifies as “a work related illness”? The federal court in Williams v. Ill. Cent. R.R. holds that any illness arising during the course of employment is included,…
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In a case of first impression, a federal court holds the only statue of limitation that applies to Federal Rail Safety Act whistleblower cases is the 180 day window following an adverse action, and that no other statute of limitation applies to the filing of a de novo complaint in federal court.
In Gary Despain…
What are the guideposts for determining the amount of punitive damages in Federal Rail Safety Act cases? According to the 10th Circuit’s decision in BNSF Railway Company v. US DOL ARB [Cain], there are three guideposts whose application is informed by the text of Section 20109:
The first and most important indicator of the reasonableness
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It is important to know when the 180 window for filing a Federal Rail Safety Act complaint opens. This is from OSHA’s Summary explaining its Final Rules for FRSA cases:
To be timely, a complaint must be filed with OSHA within 180 days of when the alleged violation occurs. This is considered to be when
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Railroad defense lawyers love to file summary judgment motions because it delays the trial while padding their hourly bills. But the Federal Rail Safety Act now allows employees to turn such motions into a sword that guts the railroad’s defense.
The facts in Smith-Bunge v. Wisconsin Central, Ltd follow a familiar pattern. Todd Smith-Bunge felt…